“Greece is therefore no longer in arrears to the IMF“, Gerry Rice, the Fund’s director of communications, said in a statement.
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“I can confirm that Greece today repaid the totality of its arrears to the International Monetary Fund, equivalent to about €2 billion”, Rice said.
The European Central Bank increased emergency funding for Greek banks last week, ending a freeze of nearly three weeks and urging Europe to find a way to cut the country’s debt burden.
Greece set a series of landmarks Monday it hopes will shore up its battered economy following months of crisis that threatened its place in the euro. So unless Europe finalizes the terms of the third 86 billion EFSF bailout in the next 4 weeks, Greece will need another bridge loan just to repay the European Central Bank.
Greeks will be able to deposit cheques but not cash, pay bills as well as have access to safety deposit boxes and withdraw money without an ATM card. However, restrictions on transactions and cash withdrawals remain in place, RFE/RL reports.
Dimitris Chronis, an Athens kebab shop owner, said the new taxes were bad news for his business.
The rise was among a package of reforms demanded by Greece’s creditors.
“I don’t expect major problems, our network and the network of our competitors are ready to serve our clients”, said a senior official at Piraeus Bank, one of the big four lenders.
The higher taxes formed a key plank of last week’s bailout agreement between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and European creditors.
Mr Tsipras has since replaced his rebel ministers but analysts say his government has been weakened and fresh elections may be held in September or October.
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On Monday, French President Francois Hollande put forward his ideas for a new parliament for the eurozone countries and a shared budget.
