IMF chief says Greece plan 'good distance away' amid leaks row

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Sunday told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that "we are still a good distance away" in negotiations for a new deal for hard-up Athens.

Her strongly worded letter to the prime minister, made public by the IMF, comes amid tense ties between Athens and the IMF after WikiLeaks said the lender sought a crisis "event" to push the indebted nation into concluding talks over its reforms.

"My view of the ongoing negotiations is that we are still a good distance away from having a coherent program that I can present to our Executive Board," Lagarde wrote, in unusually forceful terms, after Tsipras wrote to her in the wake of the WikiLeaks allegations.

"I have on many occasions stressed that we can only support a program that is credible and based on realistic assumptions, and that delivers on its objective of setting Greece on a path of robust growth while gradually restoring debt sustainability."

The Greek government on Saturday reacted strongly to the WikiLeaks report, saying it wanted the IMF to clarify its position.

Lagarde rebuffed any suggestions the IMF was pushing for crisis in Greece.

"The IMF conducts its negotiations in good faith, not by way of threats, and we do not communicate through leaks," IMF managing director Lagarde said in her letter, adding that she was releasing the details of the text "to further enhance the transparency of our dialogue."

"I also look forward to any personal conversation with you on how to take the discussions forward," she added...
 [AFP - i24news.tv]
4/4/16