The European Union and the IMF should reach agreement on extending the repayment period for a €110 billion three-year rescue loan accorded Greece last May, IMF head Dominique Strauss Kahn said today.
Strauss-Kahn, speaking after meeting Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, said he backed an extension but added that a decision should be taken jointly by the EU and the International Monetary Fund.
The EU contributed two-thirds of the $147 billion package and the IMF a third. Strauss-Kahn said he noted that support for an extension had grown within the EU but the initiative has met German reservations.
Greece last week said euro zone finance ministers had 'opened the way' to an extension as a means of aligning Greek repayment conditions with those of Ireland, which has also received an EU-IMF bail-out.
A senior Greek finance ministry official has said an extension to 2024, as opposed to 2015 currently, was under consideration.
