- Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Center for European Reform
The Greek government decided to postpone its June 5 payment to the International Monetary Fund, becoming the first country to delay a payment to the international lender of last resort since the 1980s. Greece has notified the IMF it plans to bundle its loan repayments due this month into one payment of around $1.7 billion. Nevertheless, until Thursday, Athens said it was not considering using the bundling option, due to concern that the move would reveal that the country had no money to meet the regular payment schedule—a signal that some officials feared might urge Greeks to accelerate their recent withdrawals of bank deposits. Greece had four loan repayments to the IMF due this month, on June 5, 12, 16 and 19.
With Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras preparing to address Greece's parliament on Friday after receiving a list of creditors' demands, the decision underscores the state of the country's shaky finances. While international officials said some progress has been made in recent days, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said "we're still far from reaching a conclusion." Greece continues to decline certain conditions, particularly on politically unpopular issues like pension cuts. Thursday night, a Greek official said Athens would not sign an agreement that did not include debt relief, something that has not been part of these talks.
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