Sputnik — The International Monetary Fund cannot “ask everything” from Athens, which has already done a lot to overcome its financial crisis, and if the organization leaves the Greek bailout program, it would hurt the country’s credibility, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Friday.
“The IMF has been here since 2010. If it leaves, it would be a pity for Greece’s credibility. Agreements must be reached. You cannot ask everything from Greece. Greece has made a lot of efforts,” Sapin said after a meeting with Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and Economy Minister Dimitris Papadimitriou, as quoted by Athens News Agency — Macedonian Press Agency.
Sapin added that he would like for the agreement on the second bailout program review for Greece to be reached by March 20.
Greece has already received several tranches of financial aid in 2016, but the second evaluation has to be completed successfully before additional disbursements can be made.
The IMF and EU negotiators are attempting to reach an agreement with Greece on an additional package of reforms beyond what was agreed in 2015, including more cuts to pensions and a lower income tax threshold.
Mr Sapin has previously expressed his support for Athens publicly during negotiations in 2015 but this support did not became evident in subsequent eurogroup meetings where the views of the German finance minister were accepted.
