IMF chief urges more reforms in Greece

Greece needs to make further reforms to its income tax and pension systems, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde said Wednesday, ruling out Greek debt "haircut".

"The more reforms, the more progress, the more improvement of the economic situation, the less there will have to be in terms of debt restructuring," Lagarde was quoted by German news agency dpa.

Lagarde made the statement after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

According to the IMF chief, Greece should be granted of further debt relief in the form of interest rate reductions and longer maturities of loans, instead of write-down on their loans, which is known as "haircut".

"At the present time, no haircut is needed, but significant cooperation on the maturity and on the interest rates will be needed going forward," Lagarde added.

So far, it is still unknown, whether IMF would confirm its participation in a third bailout.

German officials sources told dpa that a lack of IMF's participation would result in an end to the Greek rescue program, which might bring about a new funding crisis for Athens. Endit