Christine
Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, has hit back at Greece over
claims that the IMF is seeking to push the country towards default, describing
the idea as “nonsense”.
Mr Tsipras has argued the leaked transcript
of the mid-March call, which was published by WikiLeaks, raised the question of
whether Athens can continue to deal with two officials on the call, Poul
Thomsen, head of the IMF’s European bureau, and Delia Valculescu, who oversees
the Greek programme for the IMF. But Ms Lagarde said her team “consists of
experienced staff who have my full confidence and personal backing”.
Ms Lagarde falls short of accusing Athens of
being responsible for spying on her officials, but she warns Mr Tsipras that
“it is critical that your authorities ensure an environment that respects the
privacy of their internal discussions”.
The row was prompted by comments recorded in
the transcript where the IMF officials express frustration about the EU’s slow
progress in granting debt relief to Greece. They mention that eurozone
governments have in the past left important decisions until the Greek
government was on the point of bankruptcy.
Greece has publicly interpreted the remarks as
a plan by the IMF to prolong negotiations on whether to take part in eurozone’s
latest bailout of the country until July, when the Greek government is faced
with its next big debt payment. The logic would be that the impending deadline
would give the IMF more leverage, allowing it to extract concessions out of a
reluctant Germany on the debt relief that the IMF believes is essential for
Greece’s long-term recovery.
The episode prompted an emergency meeting of
senior Greek ministers on Saturday, and led Mr Tsipras to write to Ms Lagarde
the same day to express his “deep concerns”. In his letter, he says that what
is at stake is nothing less than “whether Greece can trust, and continue
negotiating in good faith” with the IMF.
Ms Lagarde, in her reply, warns that the
Greek reaction to the transcript has itself damaged mutual trust. “This
weekend’s incident has made me concerned as to whether we can indeed achieve
progress in a climate of extreme sensitivity to statements of either side,” she
writes. “On reflection, however, I have decided to allow our team to return to
Athens to continue the discussions.”
In a further swipe at Greece’s handling of
the affair, Ms Lagarde writes that the IMF “conducts its negotiations in good
faith, not by way of threats, and we do not communicate through leaks.”
Despite the
competing interpretations over the transcript of the teleconference, it remains
the clearest sign to date that the fund wants to leave Greece’s €86bn rescue to
the EU alone and wash its hands of a programme that has led to a torrent of
criticism.
According to the document, Mr Thomsen at one
point suggested confronting Angela Merkel, German chancellor, to either agree
to debt relief or allow the IMF to exit. Ms Lagarde confirms in the letter
that, in her view, Greece is “still a good distance away from having a coherent
program that I can present to our executive board.”
“The real fight here is between Germany and
the IMF; Greece is a mere spectator,” said Mujtaba Rahman who heads European
analysis at Eurasia Group. “As no IMF means no more bailout, Germany will
ultimately support debt relief, it really has no other choice.”
Several observers in Athens said they
suspected the Syriza government could be behind the leak of the transcript.
“The government’s reaction suggests it’s trying to manufacture a crisis to make
the fund pull out of the Greek programme, hoping to make a deal on easier terms
with the EU,” said Miranda Xafa, a researcher with the Centre for International
Governance Innovation.
Πηγή: Financial Times
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