Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said that Athens will make the payment due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June provided there is a deal with creditors by then. Varoufakis spoke to CNN’s Richard Quest and underlined that he is certain that cash-strapped Greece will have come to an agreement with creditors before the installment payment is due. However, he stressed that the payment will be made only if there is a deal, otherwise it cannot be done because the money “is not there to be given.” “I’m chronically optimistic… and I shall say we will make the payment because I have no doubt that we will have an agreement by then with the institutions and partners in Europe, with the IMF and so forth,” Varoufakis said. The Greek Finance Minister said that there should be an agreement because Athens is paying its dues in the context of a loan agreement that includes disbursements of financial aid on the creditors’ part. Varoufakis also stressed that in the past four months the government and the Greek people with their sacrifices have managed to meet all financial obligations with the country’s own means. However, he said, Greece cannot go on like this forever. The installment due to the IMF on June 5 is 300 million euros, while there is another 1.2 billion euros due to the Fund by the end of the month.
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