ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece will prioritize debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund, some of which come due in March, but repayments to the European Central Bank are “in a different league” and will need discussion with Greece’s creditors, the country’s finance minister said.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, Yanis Varoufakis also said Athens intends to start discussions with its creditors on debt rescheduling in order to make the country’s massive debt sustainable, at the same time as working on reform measures that need to be cemented by April, the finance minister said Saturday.
“The IMF repayments of course we are going to prioritize, we are not going to be the first country not to meet our obligations to the IMF,” the 53-year-old said, speaking in his office in the finance ministry overlooking Athens’ central square and the country’s parliament. “We shall squeeze blood out of stone if we need to do this on our own, and we shall do it.”
However, “the ECB repayments are in a different league and we shall have to determine this in association with our partners and the institutions.”
The ECB has always insisted on full repayment and it’s not clear they would accept a rescheduling.