Greece will not make debt repayment to IMF in June: Interior Minister

PUBLISHED ON MAY 24, 2015 6:38 PM

Greece's Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said on Sunday, May 24, 2015, that the country will not make a debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due next month as it does not have the money. -- PHOTO: REUTERS 

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will not make a debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due next month as it does not have the money, the country's interior minister said on Sunday, in the most explicit remarks yet from Athens about the likelihood of default if talks fail.

"The four installments for the IMF in June are 1.6 billion euros (S$2.36 billion), this money will not be given and is not there to be given," Mr Nikos Voutsis told Greek Mega TV's weekend show.

Greece cannot make the repayments next month unless it achieves a deal with creditors, Mr Voutsis added,

Shut out of bond markets and with bailout aid locked, cash-strapped Athens has been scraping state coffers to meet debt obligations and to pay wages and pensions. After four months of talks with its euro zone partners and the IMF, the country’s leftist-led government is still scrambling for a deal that could release up to 7.2 billion euros in remaining aid to avert bankruptcy.