IMF Expects Greece to Repay Debt Before Bailout Deal Expires

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of Greece's major international lenders, expects that Athens will make a $1.7 billion payment scheduled for Tuesday when the current bailout deal comes to an end, a spokesman for IMF said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The IMF official noted that the organization should be "even-handed" toward each of its 188 members regardless of difficulties faced, but the fund would never cease working for a solution.

"Our expectation is that the payment will be made. We should just wait for June 30 and see what will happen…. As a matter of longstanding policy the IMF does not extend payment deadlines, " Gerry Rice, Director of the Communications Department at the International Monetary Fund, was quoted as saying by the Financial Times.

The IMF and other international lenders offered large loans to Greece following the 2008-2009 economic crisis, and ongoing financial mismanagement by previous Greek governments resulted in Athens' multibillion-dollar debt reaching its current $350 billion level.

On June 5, Athens was due to make a scheduled $330-million repayment to the IMF, but skipped the deadline, saying it would bundle its current four IMF debt payments into a single $1.7 billion payment on or before June 30, when Greece's current bailout deal expires.

Athens is in talks with lenders to receive financial aid to avoid default and the possible aftereffect of an exit from the eurozone. Negotiations continue.