QUESTIONER: Good morning. My first question is: when do you expect
the IMF mission to go back to Greece? We hear from the press that the
Europeans have planned to go back on the November 8th.
MR. RICE: Maybe just stepping back for those who don’t follow as
closely as you do. The discussions are continuing. Again, as you know, a
staff team was in Athens in early October and focused on a few keys
issues that are related to the sixth review, which is where we are. And
then during the annual meetings a couple of weeks ago, the Managing
Director Christine Lagarde met with the Greek authorities here in
Washington. She commended the authorities on some significant
improvements, so far, in Greece’s fiscal position, and encouraged them
to implement decisively the key reforms remaining in-line with the
program commitments and reiterated the funds commitment to support
Greece going forward.
So in that context, at this stage we’re looking forward to receiving
from the authorities the full set of policy proposals that could serve
as the basis for further discussions, and that would also determine the
timeline for the return of the mission. So I don’t have a specific date
for you right now.
QUESTIONER: Can you expand on what Madame Lagarde said on Greece when
she said said that, and I quote, “The country will be, in our view, in a
better position if it had precautionary support.” That's my first
question. And the second question, there are rumors around that they are
talking about the European Solution, quote/unquote, that the Europeans
are going to give money that Greece is going to need after December
31st.
MR. RICE: As I said, Greece has made important progress. The return
to the markets earlier this year was an important milestone. We’ve
welcomed it. It was one of the fundamental objectives of the program in
the first place. But as recent events have shown, there’s still a way to
go before Greece can rely entirely on market financing.
I think it was in that context that we had indicated that we thought a
precautionary arrangement support would be the best way for Greece to
proceed. Of course, that's for the Greek authorities to decide, and in
consultation with its partners, including the European partners and any
support that they would be offering in that broader context.
QUESTIONER: Good morning. I’d like to follow-up up with more Greek
questions. You said that you're expecting policy proposals from the
Greek authorities. When do you expect to receive them, and do you want
to see also progress in the next steps for the pension reform? Are you
expecting some specifics about that?
MR. RICE: Oh, okay. I don’t have a date in terms of when we would
expect those policy proposals. The discussions are active. They’re
ongoing and we will update you of course as they proceed. On your
question about pensions, what I would say is that we support the
authority’s desire to avoid across-the-board cuts in pensions and in
wages also. But that's why it’s important to press ahead with the fiscal
structural reforms to modernize Greece’s fiscal institutions, and to
strengthen the Tax Administration where progress, we feel, continues to
lack so that everyone pays their fair share of taxes.
QUESTIONER: My second question is about the precautionary support
that is being discussed, as we understand, in Europe these days. And
there are reports that the IMF might have a technical role in this next
phase of precautionary support with the Europeans providing the money
and the IMF providing technical support and the know-how. Would that be
something that the IMF might be interested in?
MR. RICE: Well, if the Greek authorities decided that that was the
direction they wanted to go in, I think the precise nature of the
precautionary arrangement would then need to be discussed with them. It
could take various forms, which I won't go into here. But you can
imagine it could take various different guises. Of course the IMF, as
has been the case now for a number of years, stands ready to support
Greece in any way that would be helpful to the country and to the
people, and you know that would include technical assistance. But again,
it really depends on what the Greek authorities would decide to do, and
then what the specific nature of the arrangement might be.
QUESTIONER: I have one question on Cyprus. The Minister of Economics
of Cyprus said that the mission is going to Nicosia at the end of the
year. Is it possible to tell us what are the obstacles for the mission
to go back? Why they don’t go back?
MR. RICE: On Cyprus, as you know, an IMF team with our partners in
the European Commission and the ECB ended their visit to discuss the
Fifth Review of the program at the end of July. So since then, we have
been urging the authorities to further strengthen the legislative
package on foreclosures to ensure that the process is effective, which
we believe will help Cyprus deal with the high level of nonperforming
loans, restart the flow of bank credit, and return to growth. So a
legislative package consistent with these goals is needed for the
conclusion of that Fifth Review of the program. Now, we’re aware that
proposed changes to the foreclosure process are currently with the
Supreme Court, so we remain in close contact with the Cypriot
authorities on those issues. But, again, I don’t have a date for you
right now on the return of the mission.
