Greek IMF payment: Yanis Varoufakis pledges Greece will meet 'all obligations'

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said that Athens "intends to meet all obligations to all its creditors, ad infinitum".

Varoufakis' remarks sought to allay default fears ahead of a near €450m (£331m) loan repayment due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 9 April.

Following a meeting with the head of the IMF, Varoufakis, on 5 April, said his government plans to "reform Greece deeply" and will seek to improve the "efficacy of negotiations" with its international lenders, Reuters reported.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, in a statement after meeting with Varoufakis, welcomed the confirmation that the loan payment will be made on time.

Lagarde added that due diligence efforts in Athens and talks with teams in Brussels over the terms of Greece's bailout will "resume promptly on [6 April]".

Bailout

Greece is fast running out of cash, but the bailout extended by the IMF, the EC and the ECB has been frozen until the nation's new government reaches a deal on a package of reforms, submitted to the EU last week.

Approval of its reform proposals will free up the remaining aid of €7.2bn (£5.29bn) under its bailout and result in the return of about €1.9bn (£1.4bn) in profits made by the ECB on Greek bonds.

A meeting of eurozone deputy finance ministers is scheduled for 8-9 April, but it is unlikely that a deal could be reached by then.

The next meeting of eurozone finance ministers will take place on 24 April.

Payment test

The €450m payment to the IMF is the next financial test for Athens.

Greek Labour Minister Panos Skourletis, speaking to the Ependysi newspaper on 4 April, accused Greece's creditors of taking advantage of the nation's funding limits to mount pressure on Athens.

Skourletis said: "It is necessary to restore the Greek economy's funding flow.

"Whether the country will meet its external obligations depends on our lenders' final political choices and stance," he said, adding that wages and pensions were not at risk.

Earlier, Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas, seeking to dispel fears of a default, told Greece's Skai TV: "We strive to be able to pay our obligations on time. We are ready to pay on April 9."

Mardas added that the state revenue in March had topped targets, stating that progress had been made in talks with the country's international lenders on its latest reforms list.