As the political turmoil in Greece showed no signs of abating on Thursday, the country has won a brief respite, as the EU's economics chief expressed his confidence that the IMF would agree to disburse billions of dollars of aid to the stricken country, even without new bailout terms being reached.
Meeting on Sunday
The agreement to disburse the funds is expected to be reached at a meeting due to take place on Sunday, Mr Olli Rehn, the EU's Economic Commissioner said.
The IMF had previously said that no further funds would be handed to the country without a new aid-package being reached. Mr Rehn said that a decision on that the new package was likely to be made by a meeting on July 11.
“It means that the funding of the Greek sovereign debt can now be ensured until September,” said Mr Rehn – highlighting quite how uncomfortably close the country had been to default.
“By doing so, we will avoid the default scenario and pave the way for an agreement on the medium-term strategy,” he said.
His comments come amid deep disunity within Europe, and particularly between Germany and the European Central Bank over the role of private investors in the rescue.
Mr Rehn called for unity within Europe but also stressed the responsibility of Greek authorities – warning that the efforts to avoid a catastrophic default were the responsibility of all political forces.
Violent protests
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Mr George Papandreou, called for a vote of confidence this weekend amid violent protests, and after his offer to form a unity government was turned down by opposition forces.