(VOVworld) – Greece will maintain repayments to its EU-IMF creditors as long as possible, said Gabriel Sakellaridis, the spokesman for Greece’s government. He said at a press conference on Monday that Greece and the EU would resume negotiations on reform on Tuesday, hoping for an agreement by the end of June.
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Many Greeks are angry at the EU over the austerity measures. |
However, he admitted that the two sides still had differences over several issues related to tax, social insurance, workers rights, and the budget deficit.
Sakellaridis denied a rumor that Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had asked US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to combine Greece’s 4 loan installments, which fall due in June, so that his government could repay them by the end of this month. He also rejected the idea of possible capital controls that would restrict money transfers.
Last Sunday, Greek Minister of Interior Nikos Voutis said that Greece had run out of funds to repay 4 loans, totaling 1.6 billion EUR, to the IMF next month, starting with a 300-million-EUR payment on June 5.