Press Release
Online Q&A Session on Emerging Market Economies with Christine Lagarde
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Excerpt from the interview ....
MR. RICE: Thank you very much. I'm going to take one more question, and I'm going to stay on Europe actually, it's not an emerging market question, and I'm going to break our own rule, if that’s okay with you. But there are many, many questions on Greece, and I'm going to take on question as representative. Just because of the volume.
"Madame Lagarde, it is reported that the IMF is blocking progress in the discussions in Greece, and insisting on extremely harsh pension reforms. Is this a fair description of what is going on? Also, Madam Lagarde, you met recently with Prime Minister Tsipras in Davos. Can you tell us, is the IMF on the same page about which reforms that Greece needs to do, when it needs to do it, and in order to get the IMF aboard for the Greek Program?"