IMF to close Athens office, as Greek economy steadily recovers

The International Monetary Fund that assisted Greece throughout its international bailout process will close its Athens office in the coming months, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday, after meeting with IMF Chief, Kristalina Georgieva, at IMF’s headquarters in Washington.
The Greek PM welcomed the decision adding that Greece would “continue to cooperate as a country that has emerged from the austere framework of supervision by the IMF.”
Greece completed its third bailout program in August 2018 and continues to advance its recovery under the governance of Mitsotakis and his party New Democracy that won an absolute majority in July’s elections.
“The relationship with the Fund has not always been easy, but I think we agree on some important issues, such as the need to reduce primary surpluses in 2021,” Mitsotakis said, calling European lenders to ease budget surplus targets set during the 2015 bailout.
Georgieva tweeted that IMF pledges to “continue to support Greece in its endeavour to improve growth, increase competitiveness, and further reduce unemployment and poverty”.
Greece’s fiscal process is still being monitored by the euro zone and the IMF, from which, Greek governments borrowed more than €290 billion in emergency loans during the multi-year debt crisis.