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Cash-strapped Greece completes IMF debt payment

A street musician plays an accordion as tourists and a Greek Orthodox priest walk outside the archaeological site of the Hadrian's Library in Athens, on Tuesday, May, 12, 2015. Greece may have only a couple of weeks left before it faces real problems meeting its financial commitments, the country's finance minister conceded Monday as talks with European creditors dragged on without agreement. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) A street musician plays an accordion as tourists and a Greek Orthodox priest walk outside the archaeological site of the Hadrian's Library in Athens, on Tuesday, May, 12, 2015. Greece may have only a couple of weeks left before it faces real problems meeting its financial commitments, the country's finance minister conceded Monday as talks with European creditors dragged on without agreement. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

By Associated Press May 12, 2015 1 min read

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Officials say Greece has completed a 757 million euro ($844 million) debt payment to the International Monetary Fund, despite an acute cash shortage that could come to a head within the next two weeks.

The payment was duly made Tuesday, officials said.

Greece’s radical left Syriza-led government, which is locked in slow-moving bailout negotiations with international creditors, had earlier suggested that payment of salaries and pensions would take priority over debt servicing if it was forced to choose.

Tuesday’s IMF payment was mostly covered by a Bank of Greece account, about whose existence, Syriza party lawmaker Dimitris Vitsas said, central bank officials informed the government last week.

The government has ordered local authorities, universities and hospitals to place their reserves in the central bank to help ease the cash crunch.