IMF attacks EU over Greece bailout terms

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has fiercely criticised the bailout deal offered to Greece by the eurozone.

It said Greece's public debt was now "highly unsustainable" and urged debt relief on a scale "well beyond what has been under consideration to date".
Late on Tuesday, the IMF made public advice it had given to the Eurogroup of finance ministers at the weekend.

That advice included proposals that would see some of Greece's enormous debt written off.

The IMF study said European Union countries would have to give Greece 30-years to repay all its European debt, including new loans, and a dramatic extension on the maturity of its debts. Without such extensions creditors might have to accept "deep upfront haircuts" on existing loans, the IMF added.

The split between the the IMF and Greece's European creditors over how best to deal with the country's debt crisis has been hinted at before, but this is the first time such a disagreement has been made public.

One senior IMF official said the fund would only participate in a third bailout for Greece if EU creditors produce "a clear plan".

The current deal "is by no means a comprehensive, detailed agreement", the official said.

The split between the IMF and the EU comes just hours before the Greek parliament is due to vote on a raft of economic reforms demanded of the Eurogroup over the weekend as a condition of a third Greek bailout.

BBC