Greece vows to pay debts as it awaits handout from international creditors
The Guardian - May 04, 2015
Greece has vowed to honour heavy debt repayments over the coming weeks but says it is counting on international creditors to release billions of euros in rescue funds before the end of the month as crisis talks between the two sides grind on.
But as the European commission described discussions over the long weekend as constructive, albeit with more work to be done, one Greek minister criticised the International Monetary Fund’s “extreme†demands for austerity cuts.
Greece’s creditors are demanding reforms in exchange for bailout money, but the government of the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, recently elected on an anti-austerity ticket, has said it will resist significant changes to pensions or the labour market.
On Monday, the Greek labour minister, Panos Skourletis, singled out the IMF as “inflexible†and “extremeâ€, saying the creditor was demanding pension cuts and opposing a government plan to raise the minimum wage.
“They are asking us to not touch anything [of the austerity measures] that have ruined Greek people’s lives in the last five years,†Skourletis told Mega TV. “The IMF is the most inflexible side … the most extreme voices of the Brussels group†of creditors, he said. “But there are also calmer voices.â€
