The game playing in Greece gets curiouser and curiouser.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble went on TV saying the only way Greece can get a haircut is if it leaves the Eurozone.
The IMF reiterated that Greece will not be able to make its payments.
Greece insists the IMF is wrong, yet it wants credit relief.
The Financial Times reports Greeks Escalate Bailout Divisions by Lashing out at ‘Misleading’ IMF Report.
Greece’s finance minister has lashed out at the International Monetary Fund’s “misleading” analysis of the country’s economic health and debt trajectory, intensifying a rift between Athens and the Fund over its involvement in the country’s three-year bailout programme.
Responding to the IMF’s 91-page healthcheck of the Greek economy, Syriza’s Euclid Tsakalotos said the analysis gave an unfair and “insufficient” account of reform efforts undertaken by the left-wing government since the summer of 2015.
Mr Tsakalotos said the “overly pessimistic” account led the Fund to a wrong-headed assessment of the country’s debt dynamics, which the report says could reach “explosive” proportions above 200 per cent of GDP without major debt relief or bolder spending cuts and reforms.
Greece wants the IMF out of the troika so why does it insist its debt is sustainable? It makes no sense. If its debt was sustainable, the IMF would stay in.
I discussed this previously as a blame game scenario, with each party wanting to blame the others, but things have gotten so silly now I find it difficult to twist this pretzel in a way that fits.
Meanwhile, Greek unemployment is a “mere” 23%, despite the alleged Greek recovery.
Greece vs. US Great Depression
The IMF provided this comparison of Greece vs. the Great Depression.
Greece does not want the IMF in the troika but if the IMF leaves, Germany is set to pull the plug. There is obviously some sort of game here, but it is logically impossible for Greece to hold the conflicting positions it has.
The IMF is due to deliver a major decision on whether it will contribute to the country’s €86bn bailout when finance ministers meet in Brussels later this month.
Had Greece warned up to the IMF, it could have blamed Germany and the IMF. Logically all it can do now is blame itself.