Greece misses new payment to IMF despite bailout deal

[WASHINGTON] Greece missed the second debt payment to the International Monetary Fund in two weeks on Monday, despite having reached agreement with official creditors on a new bailout programme earlier in the day.

Athens was supposed to remit 456,000 euros (S$682,000) to the crisis lender by 2200 GMT, but it had not been expected to make the payment after missing a 1.5-billion-euro debt payment to the Fund on June 30.

Greece's arrears to the IMF now total about 2.0 billion euros, said spokesman Gerry Rice in a statement confirming the missed payment.

When it first defaulted at the end of June, the IMF froze Greece's access to its resources, including the Fund's ongoing financing programme for the country.

Athens asked the IMF for a rare extension of the repayment period, which was not ruled on at the time.

"The request by the Greek authorities for an extension of the repayment obligation due on June 30th is expected to be discussed by the Executive Board in the coming weeks," said Mr Rice.

AFP

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