The International Monetary Fund announced that they approved for additional funding for Greece's bailout program. The IMF released EUR1.7 billion or GBP1.5 billion after the completion of the fourth review for the cash-strapped Euro Zone member. Greece adopted the last piece of legislation proposed by international lenders for the release of the next batch of rescue loans. The requirements were completed after two months of internal strife over the unpopular measures to overhaul Greece's economy. Greece's funding from the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank amounts to EUR5.8 billion.
"Urgent steps need to be taken to address concerns about the structure and governance of the privatization program and to improve its effectiveness," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in an updated statement on Monday.
The European Union said that Greece will now only need to produce EUR1.6 billion from privatizations. Legarde applauded Greece's efforts by cutting budgets and external balances.
"Given the slow progress in public administration reforms, efforts should focus on ensuring exit of unqualified personnel to create room to hire new staff with the relevant skills," Lagarde said.
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