The IMF’s latest Fiscal Monitor Review published on Wednesday predicts that Greece may miss its next bailout target, since the country’s budget surplus has only risen to 1.1% of gross domestic product, failing so far to hit the target of 1.5% of GDP set by the IMF and the Eurozone in the bailout terms. Although Greece was predicted to be on track to meeting its targets in the IMF’s last report in April, problems with tax collection, slow growth, and delays in selling off state assets put Greece’s progress in the bailout programme in jeopardy. Should the country fail to meet its main objective, its emergency creditors (the IMF, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank) won’t proceed to issuing the next round of bailout financing, a factor likely to add pressure to the already tense negotiations over the upcoming tranche to help the troubled economy.
Source: Wall Street Journal