IMF likely to contribute up to 5b euros to Greek bailout

[BERLIN] The International Monetary Fund is likely to contribute up to five billion euros (S$7.562 billion) to the third bailout package for Greece, German magazine Der Spiegel said in an unsourced report published on Friday.

It said European lenders were now expecting a sum of this size after originally having hoped for 16 billion euros.

The Fund's involvement in the programme has been uncertain. Earlier on Friday, a German Finance Ministry spokeswoman said Berlin considered it essential that the IMF participate.

The Spiegel report said the IMF now shared the view of European lenders that Greece should post a primary budget surplus of 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product in order to get fresh aid.

REUTERS