Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the rift between the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over how to make Greece's debt sustainable is undermining the country’s attempts at economic recovery.
Tsipras said the debt pile is equivalent to more than 170 percent of economic output, stressing that this is not just a Greek but a "European problem".
He warned that the investors would remain wary of Greece for as long as the IMF and the EU remain at odds on how to restructure the country’s economy.
"I would say that what is creating conditions of delay in regaining trust of markets and investors ... is the constant clash and disagreement between the IMF and European institutions," Tsipras told a news conference in the northern city of Thessaloniki, as reported by Reuters.
The Greek premier said the country had already completed 70 percent of reforms required under the bailout program.
Eurogroup, the body of 19 finance ministers from the eurozone, has called on Greece to speed up the implementation of a series of economic reforms so as to unblock much-needed bailout funds.
Under a deal signed with its creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – Greece can receive financial assistance worth €86 billion ($96 billion) by 2018 in return for agreed economic reforms.
Greece has already received two bailouts in 2010 and 2012, worth a total of €240 billion ($272 billion) from its creditors following the economic crisis in the Southeast European country back in 2009.
The debt-ridden country is due to fulfill 15 reforms requested by its lenders, including privatization plans and energy sector changes, in September to get the final €2.8 billion ($3 billion) available in this tranche.
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