- Greece's Finance Ministry
Greece paid around 750 million euros to the International Monetary Fund on Monday, a day before the deadline, alleviating the prospect of default. As Athens is close to running out of cash, there had been doubts about whether it would prefer paying the IMF or choose to save cash to pay salaries and pensions later this month. Greece took 650 million euros out of an IMF holding account used for emergencies to make the repayment. The account has to be refilled within a few weeks. Following the payment, Greece's financial condition remains insecure unless it ensures fresh aid from lenders. Nevertheless, it is expected that the IMF will not join a potential third Greek bailout package. Lack of "really effective action" and the recent Athens' decision to re-hire public employees, who were laid off under austerity measures have shaped to the IMF's decision. Thus, Greece is left to hope for financial assistance from the Eurogroup, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. Meanwhile, the Euro zone's second biggest economy is seen growing at a slightly slower pace in the second quarter, according to the Bank of France's monthly business survey. The French economy is expected to expand at a 0.3% rate in the April-June quarter. For the first quarter, the central bank raised its forecast to 0.4% quarter-on-quarter growth from a previous estimate of 0.3% growth. The official figures are scheduled to be released later today.
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