Greece said Sunday it would continue implementing a joint European Union-International Monetary Fund reform program, saying that the arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strass-Kahn would have no impact on their resolve to fix the country’s public finances.
“We have a specific program that the IMF also takes part in, and we are continuing to implement that program,” Greek government spokesman George Petalotis told Dow Jones Newswires.
“As such, it is not an issue of individual personalities, it is an issue of institutional arrangements,” he added.
Despite the arrest, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement it remains “fully functioning and operational.” The IMF Executive Board convened an informal session Sunday and made Strauss-Kahn’s deputy, John Lipsky, acting managing director while its chief was unavailable.
The Washington, D.C.-based lending body also sent Nemat Shafik, a deputy managing director who oversees IMF work in several EU countries, to Monday’s eurozone meeting to replace Strauss-Kahn.
Strauss-Kahn had to cancel his Sunday meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, where the German public is deeply skeptical about putting up any more money for Greece.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn also is on friendly terms with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. He has been a supporter of Greece’s reform efforts and was instrumental in helping to hammer out the €110 billion ($155.18 billion) bailout package with the European Union and IMF in May 2010 to keep Greece out of default.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn had publicly rejected talk of a Greek debt restructuring. But Greece remained hopeful that the IMF would agree that Greece needs more time to repay its debts.
Greek officials privately conceded that if Mr. Strauss-Kahn is proven guilty, it would amount to a major blow for country’s search for allies if it needs further financial aid.
(source: Dow Jones)
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