Reuters reported that Eurozone country leaders attempted to block the IMF’s decision to publish a report regarding the Greek issue, where the Fund admitted that the Greek debt is unsustainable and requires relief. The report vindicated the leftist SYRIZA government, which has been requesting a debt haircut for many months, and has asked the Greek people to vote against the harsh bailout program proposal in Sunday’s referendum.
The IMF report was released on Thursday and noted that “Greece’s public finances will not be sustainable without substantial debt relief, possibly including writeoffs of loans by European partners guaranteed by taxpayers.” Furthermore, it added that the country will need another 50 billion euros to remain afloat until 2018.
“Publication of the draft Debt Sustainability Analysis laid bare a dispute between Brussels and the Washington-based global lender that has been simmering behind closed doors for months,” noted Reuters.
It is not clear whether the IMF report publication will affect the referendum outcome. However, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras used this to his advantage in order to support the “No” vote. “An event of major political importance happened yesterday. The IMF published a report on Greece’s economy that is a great vindication for the Greek government as it confirms the obvious – that the Greek debt is unsustainable,” he said.
Meanwhile, European leaders are questioning the IMF’s decision to publish the report at this crucial time and while Greece’s future in the Eurozone is at stake. In their opinion, the report may distract attention from the fact that Tsipras’ government has wrecked a fragile economy that was just starting to recover” in just five months, noted the news agency.
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