IMF confirms receiving Greek request for new loan

The third bailout for Greece that was agreed upon in the eurozone and euro summit agreements last week in Brussels- and approved by the Greek Parliament, call for €86 billion in new loans for Greece and assumes some of the financing from the worldwide Monetary Fund.

The Greek parliament has already passed two reform packages demanded by the worldwide creditors, including tax increases and a pensions overhaul, since the controversial deal earlier this month.

“We expect that the institutions, including the ESM, will travel to Athens in the coming days”, a European Commission spokeswoman said Friday.

But senior officials from Greece’s bailout monitors told the Financial Times that Athens had subsequently demanded restrictions on negotiators, including on whom creditors could meet with and what topics were to be discussed in the talks.

Symbolically, the inspectors’ return is humiliating for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who won power in January promising to dismantle the troika.

The government sources said that Athens is aiming to conclude this round of talks by August 12, when the bailout terms require approval from the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

Sensitivities are high in Greece over the presence of foreign officials associated with the much-hated austerity policies that deepened the country’s long economic depression, and the security of officials from the creditor bodies is a concern.

Varoufakis, who has since left the government and attacked the reforms, had said in May that “motorcades” of the creditors’ representatives moving around the Greek capital were humiliating.

In a sign of the problems faced by Greece and its lenders, the country’s most influential think tank predicted on Thursday a sharp drop back into recession.

The Fund took part in the two previous bailouts but has said it will only participate this time around if European creditors reduce Athens’ debt burden to a level it considers “sustainable”.

Armenpress reports, citing Euronews that the worldwide Monetary Fund says it’s received a letter from Greece seeking a new loan, confirming a statement from the Greek finance ministry saying it had submitted a formal request.

The IMF’s spokesman Gerry Rice said Thursday the fund’s participation in the new bailout is contingent on a balanced approach that includes both Greek reforms and a commitment to the required financing.