Greek Finance ministry on IMF report

Greece’s Finance Ministry on Wednesday evening issued an indirect response to a report given to publicity by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the afternoon, quoting Greece’s agreement with the EC/ECB/IMF troika of lenders, which runs contrary to the contents of the IMF’s report.
The ministry said that even though talks with European partners on updating the programme are continuing, any likely fiscal gaps up to 2017 will not be covered by new fiscal measures but by controlling spending, improving tax compliance and the already visible improvement in the macroeconomic climate.

The finance ministry further said that “the Greek government does not comment on reports by international organisations such as the IMF. And it did not do so even when the Fund was admitting erroneous assumptions and incorrect estimates in drafting the initial Economic Policy Programme for Greece.

The Greek government expresses its opinion with responsibility and respect for the enormous sacrifices of the Greek society only on the Economic Policy Programme agreed with the troika.

According to an ANA-MPA dispatch from New York, the IMF wants new austerity measures worth 6.7 billion euro from Greece to be taken by 2016. The IMF sees no primary surplus to be achieved for 2013 and furthermore that additional debt restructuring (haircut) will be required.

According to IMF’s “Fiscal Monitor” report published on Wednesday:

- Greece is expected to achieve a zero primary balance in 2013, despite the fact that the draft budget for 2014 predicts a surplus of 344 million euros;

- additional adjustment by 2016 will require additional measures, including gains from the tax administration, equal to 3.5 pct of GDP;

- projections for public debt require an additional haircut (OSI) to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 124% by 2020;

- measures of 2.9 billion euro should be adopted in 2014.