IMF to release $2.26bn in loans for Greece

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will release about USD 2.26 billion for Greece after the Fund completed the third review of Greece's performance under an economic program supported by an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, the IMF said in a statement. With this disbursement, the total disbursements for Greece under the arrangement will come to USD 8.55 billion. In this regard, IMF Managing Director and Chair Christine Lagarde said in a statement "the Greek authorities have made commendable progress in reducing fiscal and external imbalances and in restoring competitiveness." She affirmed that "Greece is well underway to complete its ambitious fiscal adjustment plan, and is on track to meet its 2013 fiscal targets." She stressed that "a critical priority is to tackle tax evasion by pressing forward rapidly with reform of the revenue administration to improve operational independence and make the burden of adjustment more equitable." She said that "pressures to reduce taxes using the space from any fiscal over-performance should be resisted. Decisive steps are needed to reform public administration, including through targeted staff reductions, to lower costs, improve efficiency, and increase fairness." She added that "public debt is projected to remain high well into the next decade." "The assurances from Greece's European partners that they will consider further measures and assistance, if necessary, to reduce debt to substantially below 110 percent of GDP by 2022, conditional on Greece's full implementation of all conditions contained in the program, are welcome," she remarked.