IMF’s Thomsen Says Greece Falling Short on Structural Reforms

Bloomberg
December 13, 2011

Greece’s structural reforms have not gone far enough and the government is unable to raise more revenue through tax increases, the International Monetary Fund’s mission chief to the country said.

“There has been too much reliance on taxation,” Poul Thomsen, deputy director of the IMF’s European department and mission chief to Greece, said in a conference call with reporters today. “Structural reforms have fallen short. They are well behind schedule.”

The IMF approved a payment of 2.2 billion euros ($2.9 billion) to Greece on Dec. 5 as part of a joint program with the European Union. That followed a Nov. 30 agreement by euro-area finance ministers on a 5.8 billion-euro loan to Greece under last year’s bailout.

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