Greece wants to make debt payments but says it needs aid urgently

Greece intends to make good on its debt obligations but needs aid urgently to be able to do so, the government said on Monday, after several senior officials insisted Athens had no money to pay a loan instalment due next week. Shut out of bond markets and with bailout aid locked, Greece is running out of cash to pay its bills. It must repay four loans to the International Monetary Fund next month, starting with a 300 million euro payment on June 5 that is seen as the next crunch point.  A growing list of senior members of the government - the interior minister among them – have openly said Athens does not have the means to pay the IMF, and would prioritise paying civil servants and pensioners instead.

We haven’t got the money. We won’t pay. It’s that simple.

Nikos Chountis, Deputy Foreign Minister

Greek officials have frequently threatened to default in recent weeks, arguing the country does not have cash, which euro zone officials have dismissed as a negotiating tactic to raise pressure on creditors to disburse aid. Adding pressure on the government, prominent opposition lawmaker Dora Bakoyianni said the country risked facing capital controls to stem deposit outflows if it did not reach a deal for aid with the government this week. Government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis  dismissed such doomsday scenarios and said there was no chance of imposing capital controls.  He also dismissed reports that the government would try to pay all its June obligations in one lump sum to the IMF.

To the degree to which we are able to pay our obligations, we will pay our obligations. It’s the government’s responsibility to be in a position to pay all of these obligations.

Gabriel Sakellaridis,  Government Spokesman

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