While speaking in the annual general meeting of the IMF in Lima, Peru, Mrs.Lagarde clarified that the position of the IMF towards the Greek problem has not changed.
“Greece asked for the support of the IMF and every program is based on two sectors. The first calls for important, legislated reforms, particularly in the pension system and the management of the banks. The second is about the actions that are necessary in order to make the Greek debt viable”, said Mrs. Lagarde.
The Greek FinMin Mr.Tsakalotos is also in Lima and he is expected to meet Mrs. Lagarde in order to discuss these issues.
According the Deutsche Welle, this year's Fiscal Monitor (a report published yearly for the annual IMF meeting) stresses the need for further measures to the amount of 1.35 bn euro for the period 2015-2016.
The Fiscal Monitor projects that this year, Greece will have a 0.5% deficit while this will become zero in 2016. The report appears to be more pesimistic than the Commission, the ECB, and the ESM who predict a 0,25% deficit for 2015 and a 0.5% surplus for 2016.
For 2017 the Monitor predicts a 1.3% surplus which will become 2.5% in 2018 and will rise to 3.5% for the next year.
The paper mentions that Greece is this year's champion of reforms but the problem of the public pension sector runs so deep, that the country, which also suffers from an ageing demographic might have to further reduce the expenditure for pensions and public health.
According to the Deutsche Welle, the IMF predicts that Greece will increase its spending for pensions by 0,5% of the GNP in the period between 2015-2050 while the average increase in 35 developed countries will be 1% and 1,8% in developing economies. The expenses for the public health sector will follow a similar path since Greece will only raise the funds by 0.8% of the GNP while developed countries will raise their spending by 3,1% and that number will be 1,2% in the developing economies.