Greece Likely to Raid Pensions and EU Subsidies to Meet IMF Payments
Newsweek - Mar 03, 2015
Greece may be forced to tap into state pension and social security funds and even EU farming subsidies to meet their scheduled repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month. It is expected to repay €1.5 billion in March, with €310 million due this Friday.
While short-term solutions for the March payments may be available to the new Greek government led by the left-wing Syriza coalition, experts say meeting further repayments scheduled this year to the European Central Bank (ECB) will require agreeing to a third bailout package.
If Greece fails to make its IMF payments it will be the first developed country to do so. Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis told the BBC at the weekend that the Greek government would “squeeze blood out of a stone†if needed.
Syriza was elected on a platform of ending austerity in Greece and pledged not to negotiate with the ‘troika’ of the IMF, EU and ECB but have been forced to make concessions during talks over repaying the countries debt whilst keeping it solvent and in the euro.