Press Release No. 12/357

The EC/ECB/IMF mission in Athens will take a brief pause from its discussions with the authorities on the program review. It expects to return to Athens after about a week. During this period some mission experts will remain in Athens to assist the authorities with further technical work, while contacts will continue with the authorities from respective headquarters. The mission has had productive discussions with the authorities since early September and has made good progress during this period. The mission looks forward to continuing those discussions soon in Athens, with the goal of reaching agreement on a set of economic policies that could provide the basis for a successful completion of the review.