BRUSSELS (AP) – Greece made progress with its creditors over the weekend on how to stave off bankruptcy, official said Monday, despite complaints in Athens that the International Monetary Fund is pushing the cash-strapped country too hard over labor reforms.
Officials in Brussels and the Greek capital said negotiations between Greece and the so-called Brussels Group, which is made up of representatives from the eurozone, IMF and European Central Bank, would continue.
Greece has to come up with a series of economic reforms and budget measures that are deemed acceptable by creditors in order to secure the remaining money in its bailout fund – 7.2 billion euros ($7.7 billion).
Without the money, Greece faces the possibility of going bankrupt in the coming weeks, putting up controls on the free flow of capital and an exit from the euro. Its next big repayment is a 750 million-euro payment due to the IMF on May 12.
Many in the markets think that a meeting of the eurozone’s 19 ministers the day before the IMF repayment may be the moment real progress in the talks is reported.