Greece’s exit from the Eurozone is a possibility but would not signify an end to the single currency, International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
“A Greek exit is a possibility,” Lagarde told the German newspaper in an advance extract of an interview due to be published on Friday. She said such a scenario would not be “a walk in the park” for the Eurozone but would “probably not be an end to the euro,” she said.
Lagarde also said it is very unlikely that a deal between Greece and its creditors could happen in the coming days. “It is very unlikely that we will reach a comprehensive solution in the next few days,” Lagarde said. “[There] is a vast field to plow,” she added.
The IMF chief noted that after positive signs from Athens about 10 days ago, talks have stalled during the past week and warned that no loans will be disbursed if there is no reform agreement in place. “We have rules. We have principles. There cannot be a half evaluation. This evaluation cannot be rushed.”
With this in mind, the paper argued it is practically impossible to have a disbursement of the rest of the funds by the end of June because this would require an agreement between Athens and all the institutions.
Lagarde also clarified that the IMF is not the one that can decide whether Greece will stay in the Eurozone. If the other countries and the European Central Bank (ECB) want to avoid a Greek bankruptcy in the next few weeks, they should take precautionary measures. If conditions are met, she said, the countries could give Greece “a little breathing space.”
(source: ana-mpa)
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