IMF's European Department

Fitch Ratings, a leading credit rating agency, has affirmed Bulgaria's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating at 'BBB' with a Positive Outlook, signaling confidence in the country's economic trajectory.

Europe can get by without Russian gas for six months, but beyond that, the economic impact would be severe, a senior IMF official told AFP.

Alfred Kammer, head of the IMF's European Department, urged countries in the region to take a series of steps to ease the blow, including reducing consumption to build up inventory.

The International Monetary Fund estimates that years of efforts to contain Greece's national debt will go to waste due to the coronavirus pandemic, as it projects the country's dues will soar to 200.8 percent of gross domestic product this year, with a primary budget deficit at 5.1 percent of GDP after five years of primary surpluses, according to the Fund's Fiscal Monitor report released on We

The decision for the early repayment of part of the International Monetary Fund loans to Greece is expected to feature in talks Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos will have in Washington on Friday with the Fund's Managing Director Christine Lagarde, as well as the head of the IMF's European Department, Poul Thomsen.

Europe's economy is now hitting its stride, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, but a disruptive Brexit could result in "appreciably" lower growth for both Britain and the eurozone.

The IMF's latest Regional Economic Outlook, which looks at more than 40 countries from Germany and the UK to Turkey and Russia, said the current recovery looks increasingly assured.

The International Monetary Fund has retreated from its demand for an asset quality review (AQR) of Greek banks, according to statements made on Thursday in London by the head of the IMF's European Department, Poul Thomsen. The Washington-based Fund insists, however, that a medium-term strategy is needed to tackle the issue of bad loans.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday backed away from a demand for an asset quality check on Greece's banks after a proposal by the European Central Bank to bring forward planned stress tests next year, driving a rebound in the shares. 

In a letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seen by Kathimerini, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged to set a ceiling to hirings of contract workers to municipalities in 2017 and 2018, and to make changes to trade union laws in order to get the Washington-based organization to join the Greek program. 

The International Monetary Fund needs to see more realistic eurozone assumptions about Greece's economy and more detail on planned debt relief measures to join a bailout, IMF's European Department head Poul Thomsen said.

Thomsen said the IMF and Greece's eurozone lenders made progress in talks on Monday, but were not yet quite there.

The International Monetary Fund needs to see more realistic euro zone assumptions about Greece's economy and more detail on planned debt relief measures to join a bailout, IMF's European Department head Poul Thomsen said.

Thomsen said the IMF and Greece's euro zone lenders made progress in talks on Monday, but were not yet quite there.