IMF to approve bailout tranche to Athens on May 28

By Katerina Sokou

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board will convene on May 28 to discuss and likely approve the disbursement of its next bailout tranche to Greece.

The report of the IMF’s mission to Greece is expected later this week and, despite talk of a deliberate delay until after the elections, sources from Washington say the assessment report will not contain any surprises. The issue of debt sustainability will not be analyzed in detail as it will be discussed in the following assessment of the Greek economy.

The date was set on Monday following pressure by Athens, even though the report is not yet ready. The delay is due to the time it took the government to implement all of its numerous prior actions. According to sources, one of the remaining sticking points is the payment of state authorities’ dues to the Public Power Corporation (PPC).

There have been delays on the part of the IMF, too, as it took longer than expected for the Fund to assess the multi-bill that was recently voted through by the Greek Parliament. The original target had been for the board to meet on May 16, but the Greek issue will be included in the agenda of the May 28 meeting on Friday.