International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in an interview with BBC on Sunday that her institution will not step forward to provide additional financial assistance to Greece, if the Greek government miss its €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) payment on June 30. “I can’t speak for the IMF program, because the IMF program is on, but the European financial arrangement expires on June 30th,” IMF chief stated. Commenting on Greece’s referendum that is scheduled for July 5 to challenge Greek voters on international creditors’ proposals she said: “So, at least legally speaking, the referendum will relate to proposals and arrangements that are no longer valid.” Christine Lagarde also disclosed that the International Monetary Fund would not support Greek banks by offering immediate liquidity, essential for the country’s economic obligations toward the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Greece. Lagarde also mentioned that talks between Athens and its lenders could only be revived if Greek voters defy their leadership supporting this way their stay in the euro zone. “If there was a resounding ‘yes, we want to stay in the euro for good, we want to be part of that, we want to restore the status of the economy, we want to be sustainable in the long run,’ there would be a resounding ‘let us try,’” she explained.
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