Once again the IMF is back in the news in regards to Greece.
The IMF staff told the board of directors Greece Disqualified from New IMF Program.
Yet, Germany insists IMF be a part of the program. The reason for the latter is Germany will have to pony up lots more money if the IMF is not involved. The staff presented this message to the board this week, along with the message eurozone bailout lenders first need to agree on “debt relief”.
From the above link (Financial Times) …
The International Monetary Fund's board has been told Athens' high debt levels and poor record of implementing reforms disqualify Greece from a third IMF bailout of the country, raising new questions over whether the fund will join the EU's latest financial rescue.
The determination, presented by IMF staff at a two-hour board meeting on Wednesday, means that while IMF staff will participate in bailout negotiations currently under way in Athens, the fund will not decide whether to agree a new programme for months — potentially into next year.
The IMF's assessment adds another source of complexity, just as Athens and its bailout monitors begin discussions to try to conclude a deal before a tight August 20 deadline.
According to a four-page “strictly confidential” summary of Wednesday's board meeting, IMF negotiators will take part in policy discussions to ensure the eurozone's new bailout “is consistent with what the fund has in mind”.
But they “cannot reach staff-level agreement at this stage”. The fund will decide whether to take part only after Greece has “agreed on a comprehensive set of reforms” and, crucially, after eurozone bailout lenders have “agreed on debt relief”.
[Germany] now faces the prospect of trying to move an €86bn bailout through a sceptical Bundestag in a matter of weeks, without the IMF's imprimatur.
Some Greek officials suspect the IMF and Wolfgang Schäuble, the hardline German finance minister, are determined to scupper a Greek rescue, despite the July agreement to move forward with a third bailout.
In a private teleconference made public this week, Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister, said he feared that his government would pass new rounds of economic reforms only for the IMF to pull the plug on the programme later this year.
“According to its own rules, the IMF cannot participate in any new bailout. I mean, they've already violated their rules twice to do so, but I don't think they will do it a third time,” said Mr Varoufakis. “Dr Schäuble and the IMF have a common interest: they don't want this deal to go ahead.”
Senior EU officials have insisted that Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, signalled her willingness to participate in a new bailout at the high-stakes summit that agreed the new rescue earlier in July.
But Greece has become a growing source of rancour within the fund and among its shareholders. People who have spoken with senior IMF officials say Ms Lagarde is facing a unified staff view that the fund's reputation is on the line and that it cannot agree to a new programme without significant changes.
According to the board minutes, several non-European board members — including from Asia, Brazil and Canada — gave warning over the need to “protect the reputation of the fund”, and the document says Ms Lagarde acknowledged their concerns.
“[Ms Lagarde] stressed that in their engagement they have to be mindful about the reputation of the fund,” the summary says.
According to the summary, IMF staff concluded that Greece no longer cleared two of the four requirements in the IMF's “exceptional access criteria” — the fund framework that allows it to grant bailouts of larger-than-normal size.
