Greece faces delayed loan disbursement if Athens fails to meet a key milepost under a new, EUR28 billion International Monetary Fund program agreed upon last week, an IMF spokesman said Thursday.

"A key agreed milepost is defining and legislating, where feasible, the measures necessary to complete Greece 's fiscal adjustment," said David Hawley.

"We certainly hope that this can be done in three months time, but if not, and this is a complex task to undertake, then the review could take longer," he said.

Under IMF rules, the fund periodically reviews how a country is performing under the agreed set of conditions for the loan. It is only after the IMF approves the review that a loan tranche is disbursed. In Greece 's case, that means its EUR1.65 billion IMF disbursement could be delayed if it doesn't meet IMF expectations.

Given that the IMF's loan is part of a much larger European bailout program for Greece , Europe could also hold off on disbursing its loans if the IMF defers its tranche release.

The fund said in its loan report last week there is "no room for slippages," warning the program could derail if Greece doesn't fully implement the planned policies, sending the country into a default tailspin.

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