Lagarde: Greece has achieved in the implementation of difficult policies-Tsipras: Greece is turning page
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, met today in Washington with the Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, to discuss recent developments in Greece and key issues ahead. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Managing Director made the following statement:
“I was very pleased to welcome Prime Minister Tsipras to the IMF today. I complimented him and the Greek people on the notable progress Greece has achieved in the implementation of difficult policies, including recent pension and income tax reforms. We had an excellent and productive meeting.
“The IMF recently approved in principle a new arrangement to support Greece’s policy program. Resolute implementation of this program, together with an agreement with Greece’s European partners on debt relief, are essential to support Greece’s return to sustainable growth and a successful exit from official financing next year. The Prime Minister and I are committed to working together towards this goal.”
The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stated:
I had the opportunity to discuss with Christine the short- and medium-term outlook of the Greek economy; the significant progress made so far towards the successful completion of the program; and the steps we are now taking towards building a credible and sustainable market access.
After several years of economic stagnation, Greece is turning page:
– Acute risks and uncertainty have subsided;
– Economic recovery is gaining traction. Indeed the 2017 expected growth rate of approximately close to 2 percent has not been seen since 2007 and this is very significant for us.
– Primary surplus targets have been exceeded for three years in a row and public finances are on a sustainable path again.
There is no doubt that the immense efforts of the Greek people are bearing fruit and there is now a visible, credible and sustainable exit from the crisis.
We have agreed with Christine that it is in the best interest of all sides to complete the forthcoming third review as quickly as possible.
Everybody knows that in the past we had delays. Everybody knows that we had delays because of disagreements between the institutions but now I believe that we ha ve overcome these disagreements and everybody wants the completion of the second review.
The completion of the review will allow the Greek economy to maintain its positive momentum and will offer a period of ‘clean air’ during which all parties can focus on the discussions about the parameters of debt relief and set the conditions for a successful and sustainable market access.
In these discussions on the debt issue we hope that the IMF will play a critical, determining role and we are looking forward to working together.
