IMF Lagarde affirms Greece's June 30 deadline to make IMF payments

[LUXEMBOURG] Greece won't be given a grace period if it fails to make a payment of about 1.5 billion euros (S$2.3 billion) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on June 30, managing director Christine Lagarde said, setting a hard deadline for the indebted nation to reach a deal with creditors.

"I have a deadline, which is the 30th of June, when a payment is due from Greece," Ms Lagarde said at press conference in Luxembourg Thursday. "There is no grace period." Euro-area finance ministers are converging on Luxembourg with talks deadlocked over the release of about 7.2 billion euros of aid left in Greece's 240 billion-euro bailout. The bailout expires on the same day the IMF payment is due.

BLOOMBERG