Washington — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday approved in principle a $1.8bn standby loan arrangement for Greece, making a conditional commitment to help underpin the country’s long-running bail-out programme for the first time in two years. But the IMF’s approval-in-principle means the fund will not make any money available until after it receives "specific and credible assurances" from Greece’s European lenders to ensure the country’s debt sustainability. The approval is also conditional on Greece keeping its economic reforms on track. The current bail-out, Greece’s third since 2010, is now shouldered exclusively by European institutions. A second executive board decision would be needed to make the IMF programme fully effective, the IMF said. The arrangement will expire on August 31, 2018, shortly after Greece’s European stability mechanism loan programme ends. "The programme provides both breathing space to mobilise support for the deeper structural reforms that...
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