3minutes to Midnight…IMF walks out of Greece bailout talks

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IMF walks out of Greece bailout talks

Lender says its negotiating team are going home to Washington due to a lack of progress in narrowing key differences with Athens

International Monetary Fund spokesman Gerry Rice says that there has been no progress in narrowing the gap between the views of Greece and the IMF

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The International Monetary Fund dramatically pulled out of talks with debt-stricken Greece on Thursday after it accused Athens of failing to compromise over labour market and pension reforms.

The Washington-based lender of last resort said its team of negotiators had quit talks in Brussels after reaching a stalemate and would be returning to Washington.

The move left the Greek negotiating team with no option but to say it would also be leaving the talks and heading home to Athens.

“The ball is very much in Greece’s court,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said. “There are major differences between us in most key areas. There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently.”

The IMF’s decision followed increasingly sharp criticism from EU officials frustrated at the Greek government’s continued refusal to bow to creditors’ demands.

Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, earlier attempted to pressure the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, to agree terms with its creditors, warning that the time for gambling was over.

Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, intervened in the negotiations over Greek debt repayments as Athens appeared steadfast in key areas of dispute.

Tsipras was due on Friday to resume talks in Brussels with the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, to resolve the ongoing dispute over Athens’ implementation of wide-ranging reforms and steep spending cuts in return for further loans. Such a meeting is now in doubt.

A spokesman for the Syriza-led government said its negotiating team is “ready” to intensify efforts to wrap up a deal “even in the next 24 hours”.

He added: “For that reason it will continue to work on the remaining issues such as fiscal [gap] and debt sustainability.”

Greece has wrangled with creditors over the release of the remaining funds in its bailout. Without the €7.2bn available, Greece faces imminent bankruptcy, putting up capital controls and even exiting the euro.

Tusk warned that unless an agreement is signed in the next few days there is a risk that the talks will collapse and Greece will default on its existing €320bn of loans.

Speaking at the closing press conference for the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit, Tusk said that now is the time to decide.

The Greek government has to be, I think, a little bit more realistic. It is very obvious that we need decisions, not negotiations.”

He added: “There is no more time for gambling. The day is coming, I’m afraid, that someone says that the game is over.”….More Here

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