October 22, 2011
More than half of the money lent to Greece so far by the International Monetary Fund and European nations has gone to repay bondholders, a transfer of billions of dollars from taxpayers around the world to European banks and pension funds that invested in the troubled Mediterranean nation.
As the country struggles with a collapsing economy, violent strikes and historic levels of unemployment, a new analysis of an international bailout program shows the degree to which money provided to support Greece has been used to pay off its debts to the private sector.
Under an initial bailout program approved by the IMF and the European Union in May 2010, Greece’s government has been kept afloat by international loans that total $91 billion.
About $52 billion of that has been used to repay bonds that came due between the start of the program and last month, according to a review of the program done for European leaders gathered in Brussels to address financial problems in the 17-nation euro zone.
European banks are among the heaviest investors in Greek bonds. Officials in some developing countries have argued that the IMF, run by a European-dominated board and two consecutive French managing directors, seemed more interested in protecting private investors in Europe than it did when overseeing programs that wiped out dozens of banks during the Asian financial crisis.
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