Greece missed to make a EUR 456 M debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday. This is the second payment to be missed in two weeks after Athens did not pay the EUR 1.5 B installment, which fell due on June 30. The Director of Communications at IMF, Gerry Rice announced at present the arrears of Greece to the IMF amount to EUR 2 B. When Greece first defaulted on June 30, the IMF froze the access of Athens to its resources, including the IMF's ongoing financing programme for the country. Athens asked the IMF for a rare extension of the repayment period, which was not ruled on at the time. The Executive Board of the IMF is to discuss the Greek request of the repayment obligation due on June 30 in the coming weeks. On Monday, the leaders of the eurozone reached an agreement on opening negotiations for granting a third bailout to Greece. However before any aid is provided to Athens, the Greek parliament and government have to pass legislation, which would allow for implementation of the reforms agreed with creditors. This would then trigger a process of approval in the national parliaments of the member states on granting the new bailout.
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