Landon Thomas, Jr. of The New York Times reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) might not pony up any cash for the third Greek bailout. To calculate the odds on whether the IMF will, or will not, contribute bailout funds requires knowledge of the IMF’s little Greek secret.
By late 2009, Greece was clearly in big trouble. The European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) did not trust the Greek government. So, the IMF was called in to negotiate loan conditions for new Greek financing. Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) was the IMF’s managing director and was preparing to run for the French presidency as the Socialist candidate. DSK was more than willing to give his socialist brothers in Athens a helping hand. As a result, in 2010, Greece received a massive bailout.
Just how massive? Normally, the IMF is limited to lending up to six times a country’s IMF quota subscription to that country. However, if the IMF judges a country’s debt to be sustainable, then that country can qualify for “exceptional access,” and the IMF credit extended to such a country can exceed the 600% limit. Thanks to DSK and the IMF experts, the debt sustainability reports were rosy, until recently. The IMF extended credit to Greece, and did so generously.
The following table tells the tale. Greece holds the record for the highest IMF credit level relative to a country’s quota.
What about the little secret? Well, the IMF has been caught out. It’s massively overextended to Greece. And that explains the cat and mouse game over whether the IMF will, or will not, deliver a present at the third Greek bailout party.
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