The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursement of a €3.41 billion installment of Greece’s bailout package on Thursday, ending six months of protracted negotiations.
During its meeting, the IMF board reviewed the latest report submitted by the head of its mission to Greece, Poul Thomsen, which goes into the progress made in the country under the terms of the 2012 international bailout program that required unpopular austerity reforms to help restore public finances and deal with the country’s enormous public debt.
The new disbursement is twice as much “given the delay in reaching agreement on the review” between the IMF and its bailout partners, the European Union’s executive, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said recently.
The IMF last issued €1.7 billion in July 2013, and has so far lent Greece about €11.4 billion under a four-year program meant to help the country recover from its sovereign debt crisis, and rebuild its economy.
In April, the Eurogroup Working Group gave the ‘green light’ for a massive €6.3 billion installment of Greece’s bailout package, while commencing talks on Greece’s promised and much-anticipated debt relief.
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