Gov't plans early IMF loan payoff

The government is planning to pay off some of the country's loans from the International Monetary Fund early, with the aim of using it to win support ahead of this year's general election, claiming that it is showing the IMF the way out of Greece.

Speaking to the SYRIZA parliamentary party in the aftermath of the negative remarks in the IMF report, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras implied on Wednesday that the IMF loans will be repaid early, saying, "We have a plan for the IMF to stop being here, and we will soon put this into action."

This constitutes a plan that has been pending for some time, concerning the repayment of part of the outstanding balance of the IMF loans. It has already been discussed with the creditors.

Nevertheless the implementation of this plan requires the approval of the European Stability Mechanism, and sources aware of how the ESM operates...