Greece delays a looming IMF payment until June 30
Greece has kicked the can a bit further down the road and has bought itself a bit more time to find a resolution to an economic crisis that potentially threatens the stability of the multination eurozone.
Athens originally had until Friday to pay $334 million (300 million euros) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- the first of four payments totaling $1.67 billion (€1.5 billion) Greece was scheduled to pay this month.
But on Thursday the IMF announced that Greek authorities have informed the fund "that they plan to bundle the country's four June payments into one, which is now due on June 30."
According to the IMF statement, member nations have been able for decades to ask the fund to bundle together multiple payments and that "the decision was intended to address the administrative difficulty of making multiple payments in a short period."
Since coming to power four months ago, the new leftist government in Athens has been taking issue with its current bailout program, saying ordinary Greeks are already dealing with major financial setbacks and hardships, and cannot tolerate the additional austerity and reform demands Greece's creditors are making.
It's widely feared that a default by Athens would trigger Greece exiting the eurozone and abandoning the euro currency. This this so-called Grexit could have widespread negative implications for the overall eurozone economy.
The European troika negotiating with Athens, which includes the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, has signaled its willingness to compromise in an effort to stave off any such default. But a spokesman for Greece's ruling party says the government will hold early elections if Athens' creditors force the nation into a financial corner.
And in a video interview with Sky News, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis says he believes a comprehensive deal, "one that is therapeutic for Greece and good for Europe," could be reached within a matter of hours under the right circumstances.
Varoufakis also denied that Greece was facing an ultimatum from its international lenders.
"I don't think that civilized nations and institutions issue ultimata anymore," he added. "And I have every confidence that Europe ... after it has tried all other alternatives, will do the right thing."