Spiegel: IMF’s patience with Greece is running out

"IMF has indicated to the leadership of the European Union that it will not participate in further aid to Greece," says German magazine Der Spiegel in tomorrow's edition, and adds that "Greece could already default in September. The IMF's patience with Greece is coming to an end."

The magazine says that the Troika are currently examining whether the country is implementing its reform commitments and that it is already certain that the government cannot reduce its debt to 120% of the GDP by 2020 as agreed. "If the country takes more time to accomplish its objectives, based on the estimates of the Troika, this will mean an extra help of between 10 and 50 billion euros. Many Eurozone governments are no longer willing to bear the new burdens of Greece, while countries like the Netherlands and Finland have linked their assistance to the participation of the IMF."

Thus, the article continues, "the risk of Greece exiting the Eurozone is now manageable by the Eurozone countries." To reduce the risk of infection of other countries, governments want to wait for the launch of the ESM, which however cannot be done before the decision of the German Constitutional Court on 12 September.

The magazine again refers to the bond that must be paid by Greece in August. "Greece would normally have to pay 3.8 billion to the ECB on August 20. The solution could be to repay the loan through the central banks of Eurozone countries. The Greek state could issue new short-term government bonds, called "t-bills" and sell them to the Greek banks, which will submit them to the Bank of Greece as security for the new emergency assistance."