Greece to miss 300M euro IMF loan repayment on June 5
Greece will not make a payment of 300 million euro to the International Monetary Fund on June 5, but instead will make all the June payments totalling over 1.6 billion euro at the end of the month. Athens has already informed the International Monetary Fund of the goverment’s intention.
Although the bundling practice is not unprecedented and is allowed by the IMF’s rules, it has not been used in four decades. The last time it was used was by Zambia in the 1970s.
When asked by reporter in Brussels if Friday’s payment will be made, prime minister Alexis Tsipras told reporters “don’t worry about that”.
The delay to Friday’s payment gives the government more time to reach an agreement in its negotiations with lenders. “The end is not in sight in negotiations between Greece and its international lenders on a cash-for-reforms deal”, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on June 4.
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(Tsipras with Merkel on the sidelines of an EU summit in March. Photo: EC audiovisual service)
