"No" from Brazil for the disbursement of the tranche to Greece

The Brazilian representative at the IMF, Paulo Nogueira Batista, did not support the decision of the Fund this week for the disbursement of the next tranche of financial aid to Greece, citing the risk of non-repayment.

He also announced today Brazilian Brazil’s abstention from a decision. "Recent developments in Greece confirm some of our worst fears," Batista said, who is on the IMF board representing 10 other small countries of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. Batista stated yesterday that he was speaking only for himself and not the others.

"The implementation of the reform program of Greece was unsatisfactory in almost all sectors. Estimates for growth and debt sustainability continue to be over optimistic," said the Brazilian official who also criticized the IMF decision to release 1.7 billion euros for Greece on Monday.

Batista warns that this new tranche takes the total amount allocated by the IMF to Greece at 28.4 billion euros, while the country might not meet its repayment obligation in case it gets abandoned by its Eurozone partners.

However until now, both the European Union and the United States, who have a majority on the IMF board, support Greece steadily. Recently, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew visited Athens to express the support of the U.S. government in the Greek efforts.