1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises against euro amid Greece concerns

The U.S. dollar went up against the euro on Monday amid rising concerns that Greece could default on its debt within months.

Officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Greece has been stuck in negotiations with IMF and its eurozone partners on economic reforms required by its global lenders to get more aid to solve its pressing debt issues.

Poul Thomsen, director of IMF's European department, said Monday that "The burden of repayments which are coming up for Greece is very big. We need to reach an agreement beforehand so that further assistance loans can be paid out." He added that underestimating the risks would result in Greece leaving the eurozone.

The euro decreased 0.6 percent against the greenback during the session. The U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies on Monday. The dollar index, which tracks greenback against six major peers, was up 0.44 percent at 97.953 during late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.0734 dollars from 1.0794 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.4903 dollars from 1.4961 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7720 dollar from 0.7778 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 119.31 Japanese yen, higher than 118.77 yen of the previous session. The greenback went up to 0.9564 Swiss franc from 0.9528 Swiss franc, and decreased to 1.2232 Canadian dollars from 1.2241 Canadian dollars. Endite