Italy’s Monti Says IMF Needs ‘Broader Understanding’ of Crisis
February 09, 2012, 2:29 PM ESTBy Sandrine Rastello and Andrew Frye
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said the International Monetary Fund needs to be more flexible in its crisis management and the lender should acknowledge the budgetary progress made by Greek’s government.
“Where I perhaps see room for improvements also on the part of the IMF would be in having a broader understanding of specific situations in which the strict adherence to a model might prevent a pragmatic solution of a problem,” Monti said today at the Peterson Institute in Washington.
The IMF defended its approach in negotiating the terms of a new loan to Greece, saying it’s not forcing the country to take steps such as budget cuts. Greek political leaders struck a deal on a package of austerity measures, clearing the way for a swap to cut the nation’s debt and win its second rescue in two years.
--Editor: Andrew Davis, Patrick Henry
To contact the reporter on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Washington at srastello@bloomberg.net; Andrew Frye in New York at afrye@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net
