Greece pledges no default this week

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said Athens intends to "meet all obligations to its creditors, ad infinitum" ahead of a major repayment due on Thursday.

Varoufakis spoke after meeting International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde. Greece is due to pay the Washington-based fund around €450m ($494m, £330m) on Thursday.

The Greek interior minister said last week the government would prioritise payments to its citizens, including pensions and wages, over paying the IMF debt but the government has since stressed that his comments did not represent its official stance.

Greece has been embroiled in a public struggle with its creditors since the left-wing Syriza party won elections in January on an anti-austerity platform. The government has battled with other eurozone members, most notably Germany, over the terms of the extension of its bailout programme.

Greece has not received bailout funds since August 2014 and must show its creditors economic reform plans before any additional finance is released. While Athens has put forward a number of proposals, they have been accepted as a starting point but faced criticism from Germany for being too vague.

IMF head Lagarde said in a statement that she welcomed Varoufakis's pledge to pay the IMF this week.

"I welcome confirmation by the minister that payment owing to the Fund would be forthcoming on April 9<sup>th."

If Greece does not secure the release of new funds, it could run out of money later this month. It is hoping to impress fellow eurozone members with its economic reform package at a summit of deputy finance ministers on April 8 and April 9 this week. Finance ministers from across the single currency bloc are next scheduled to meet on April 24.

If its reforms are approved, Greece would receive €7.2bn in financial aid, as well as €1.9bn in profits made by the European Central Bank on Greek government bonds.