Greece threatens default as fresh reform bid falters
Telegraph - Apr 01, 2015
The Greek government has threatened to default on its loans to the International Monetary Fund, as Athens continued its battle to convince creditors for a fresh injection of bail-out cash.
Greece's interior minister told Germany's Spiegel magazine, his country would not respect a looming €450m loan repayment to the fund on April 9, without a release of much-needed bail-out funds.
"If no money is flowing on April 9, we will first determine the salaries and pensions paid here in Greece and then ask our partners abroad to achieve consensus that we will not pay €450 million to the IMF on time," said Nikos Voutzis.
The cash-strapped government has struggled to keep up with its wage and pensions obligations having agreed a bail-out extension on February 20.
Athens insists it has enough money to last it until the middle of April, but a final agreement on any deal is unlikely to be secured before the end of the month.
A Greek government spokesperson later denied the reports of a deliberate default, saying the country still hoped for a "positive outcome" to its debt negotiations.
