Stournaras: “The IMF asked for more measures and was often wrong”

The International Monetary Fund always asked the Greek government for additional measures to achieve its fiscal targets, as outlined in the bailouts, only to later reach a compromise, stated the Governor of the Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras on ERT1.

Mr. Stournaras explained that in 2013 the IMF demanded additional measures to reduce the primary deficit of 2014, when ultimately Greece had a fiscal surplus for 2014. The central banker underlined that the IMF has been wrong “many times” since 2012.

Similarly, Mr. Stournaras predecessor at the helm of the Bank of Greece Giorgos Provopoulos, also revealed that in 2014 the IMF estimated that 19 billion euros would be necessary for the bank recapitalization, while the Greek side claimed that only 6.5 billion euros would be required. Eventually, in the fall of 2014, the European Central Bank reviewed the Greek banks and sided with Greece.

The former Bank of Greece governor added that the IMF was not as flexible as it should have been, in relation to Greece, nor did it take into consideration the particularities of the Greek economy. Although Mr. Provopoulos does not consider the bailouts to be wrong, he underlined that their implementation was carried out in wrong way.