In what is considered a surprise move, Greece managed to pull off the unexpected Monday. Cutting it down to the wire, it managed to pay the International Monetary Fund close to 750 million euros ($836 million), a portion of its outstanding debt.
Athens has been in limbo for months and it was doubtful that it would be able to come up with the money. Its cash reserves have been running out and the choice was either to pay the IMF the amount due or save the cash in order to cover Greek salaries and pensions by the end of the month.
The payment is only a part of the amount of debt that needs to be paid and Greece is still hoping for some sort of cash-for-reforms deal in order to reduce its cash crisis.
Crisis Far from Resolved
The financial situation in Greece is far from resolved but at the Eurogroup meeting on Monday in Brussels, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis gave the Eurozone ministers the impression that a deal would be forthcoming within the next few days.
“Deadlines by necessity are inflexible, but there are red lines and the red lines are such that there is common ground,” Varoufakis said.
The Euro zone officials have not been forthcoming on other ideas for helping avert Greece’s bankruptcy and have rejected the idea of the European Central Bank (ECB) increasing the limit on short-term Treasury bills which Greek banks could buy.
