David Hawley, Senior Advisor, IMF External Relations
As hyper-reactive as the market has been to even a hint of economic news affecting the eurozone, one would think that officials in positions of influence would take care with how they phrase what they say.
The International Monetary Fund overnight sidestepped the prospect of new IMF aid to Greece as European Union leaders met in Brussels to forge a new rescue deal for the country.
"It's hypothetical and I'm not going to go there," IMF spokesman David Hawley said in response to a reporter's query about the IMF's willingness to lend Greece more money.
To date, "the Greek authorities have not requested a new program from the Fund," Mr Hawley said.
According to a draft agreement at the EU summit - in which IMF managing director Christine Lagarde was participating - the eurozone will provide Greece fresh loans and take steps to reduce the country's 350-billion-euro debt.
Diplomats told AFP the eurozone together with the IMF were considering rescue aid worth $102 billion, not including a possible contribution from the private finance sector. The draft text did not specify a sum.
In a June report on the status of the current IMF loan program with Greece, the Fund offered a scenario in which it would continue its current loan, while European authorities would provide an additional 71 billion euros and ask private creditors to make up a shortfall of as much as 33 billion euros.
The IMF and EU offered Greece a three-year, 110-billion-euro rescue package in May 2010.
But the bailout has proved insufficient, forcing eurozone leaders to negotiate a second emergency plan for Greece.
The IMF has a remaining 12.5 billion dollars to disburse to Greece by 2013, of its 30-billion-euro portion of the original package.
AFP