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IMF / EUROPE BRIEFING
STORY: IMF / EUROPE BRIEFING
TRT: 02:49
SOURCE: IMF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 15 APRIL 2016, WASHINGTON DC, USA
1. Wide shot, European Department briefing
2. Wide reporters at briefing
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Poul Thomsen, Director of the European Department of the IMF:
“Our central scenario’s medium-term outlook is not very exciting, if you want to put it like that. It’s a lackluster medium-term outlook. It is, as some others have said, mediocre. By which, I mean that it will take a long time for a number of countries in the euro area to bring unemployment, current high rates of unemployment, down from what is clearly unacceptable levels.”
4. Pan right, reporters
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Poul Thomsen, Director of the European Department of the IMF:
“Greece’s fiscal adjustment since the beginning has been extraordinary. There’s no doubt about that – that the burden on the Greek population has been extraordinary and Greece’s ability to adjust stands out by any comparison if we look at it from the beginning of 2010.”
6. Med shot, reporter asking question
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Poul Thomsen, Director of the European Department of the IMF:
“We need to underpin this fiscal adjustment more with structural reforms, with measures that we think are credible and can be sustained. Otherwise, we’re just going to end up in a situation where six and nine months, we’re going to come back and have to ask for new measures.”
8. Cutaway, reporters
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Poul Thomsen, Director of the European Department of the IMF:
“There are two legs to this – difficult decisions in Athens, difficult decisions in member states. And, if it’s impossible to get it to add up, and if it’s impossible for us to go to our board and say that the program meets normal Fund criteria -- which we are still trying and which I hope and expect we will be able to do – but, if that proves not to be the case, there are other ways that we can support a country. Like, post-program monitoring, for instance, we have a framework for that. But, that is not being proposed right now. We are discussing a standard Fund program.”
10. Wide shot, reporters
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Poul Thomsen, Director of the European Department of the IMF:
“We have a good basis for quickly concluding the review, but we obviously need to get the new government’s affirmation of what has been discussed in the past. But, we certainly, I could see us conclude this review soon, provided that the government stands ready to implement these policies that has been agreed before.”
12. Wide shot, end of news conference
Euro area economies are facing a “lackluster medium-term outlook,” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported on Friday.
A key issue for Euro area countries is the ongoing Greek crisis, according to Poul Thomsen, Director of the IMF’s European Department.
Thomsen praised Greek efforts so far.
He said “Greece’s fiscal adjustment since the beginning has been extraordinary. There’s no doubt about that – that the burden on the Greek population has been extraordinary and Greece’s ability to adjust stands out by any comparison if we look at it from the beginning of 2010.”
But, Thomsen said, much work remains.
He said “We need to underpin this fiscal adjustment more with structural reforms, with measures that we think are credible and can be sustained. Otherwise, we’re just going to end up in a situation where six and nine months, we’re going to come back and have to ask for new measures.”
The IMF supports a shared burden in finding a permanent solution to Greece’s crisis.
Thomsen said “There are two legs to this – difficult decisions in Athens, difficult decisions in member states.”
The IMF also said it stands ready to work with Ukraine’s new government. Thomsen said the ongoing review of the Fund’s program in Ukraine can be wrapped up successfully.
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