The International Monetary Fund will soon open a fact-finding office in Athens, where it is already overseeing a crash three-year Greek austerity programme, a senior IMF official said today.
'An office will operate in Athens in a month to six weeks at the most,' the IMF's deputy European director Poul Thomsen said.
'Its role will be to collect data, analyse it and discuss it with the Greek government,' said Thomsen, who also heads the IMF's joint team with the European Union and the European Central Bank auditing Greece's application of reforms undertaken in return for a massive default-saving loan.
The joint EU-IMF mission this week completed a two week audit of Greek finances to determine whether a €9 billion slice of the loan will be released as scheduled next month.
A total sum of €110 billion over three years was earmarked this year to rescue Greece from bankruptcy.
The inspectors said yesterday that Greece had made 'considerable' and 'impressive' progress on slashing state spending en route to eliminating a public deficit that last year stood at over four times the allowed EU limit.
But they noted that 'key challenges' remained ahead of a next release of funds in December, by which time Greece must begin the deregulation of the energy sector which is currently dominated by state operator PPC.
Greek officials must also present proposals on overhauling the ailing state railway group OSE which the mission said is buried under debts of €10 billion. The reforms have sparked six general strikes and protests this year which are set to pick up again after the summer lull.
