THE IMF Chief Christine Lagarde has said that the bail-out
package for Greece is working well but it needs to do more to crack down on tax
evasion and pursue reforms to attract foreign investors.
The Greek
economy is in its sixth year of recession but the country is seeing revived
interest in its deeply discounted bonds and stocks, helped by praise from
foreign lenders for government efforts to get the bailout programme back on
track which has brought some positive developments and there has been
significant improvement with a programme that is now pretty much on track but
lots more needs to be done. The programme has seen massive, unprecedented
consolidation which is tough.
Lagarde said Athens must improve tax
revenue collection and liberalise entry into some professions to push the
economy towards growth. Last week the IMF cleared the path to disburse a $2.26
billion (1.4 billion pounds) loan tranche to Athens after its latest review.
During the inspection that starts this week, Athens is expected to press for
lowering the 23 percent value-added tax on restaurants to boost consumption and
tax revenue.
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