IMF Sends Official To Greece On EU Request

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The International Monetary Fund on Monday said that it has sent a staff member to Athens at the request of the European Union Commission to help Greece to sort out its debt issues.

"At the request of the EU Commission and at the invitation of the Greek authorities, a fund staff member is in Athens this week to provide assistance to an EU Commission team," an IMF official reportedly said. The European Commission on February 3 approved Greece's stability programme that covers a period of 2010 to 2013. It included steps to reduce the budget deficit by 4 percentage points to 8.7% of GDP in 2010 and ultimately to 2% in 2013. Currently, Greece's public debt is at a staggering EUR 300 billion, with its deficit rising to 12.7%, four times higher than Eurozone rules allow.

Other Eurozone members have put pressure on the country's government to cut its deficit and to normalize its public finances.

Meanwhile, the country on Friday failed to explain the European Union about its deals with Wall Street banks in hiding deficit figures due to a four-day strike at the finance ministry.

EU has ordered Greece to give an explanation by Friday on reports published in the New York Times and the Financial Times that major Wall Street banks including, Goldman Sachs, had helped Greece to show a smaller deficit in 2001 to clear the way for Eurozone entry.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has denied reports last week saying that the deal was legal at the time and the country does not use the swaps now.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)