IMF expects EU to resolve Greece debt crisis

(WASHINGTON) - The IMF still expects the EU to resolve the Greece debt crisis even though the country is considering resorting to the Fund for a bailout, an IMF spokeswoman said Thursday.

"We are working closely with the EU Commission and I believe we've often said that we expect the EU, the eurozone countries, to want to and to plan to resolve this question by themselves," IMF spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson said in response to a question at a news briefing.

She said officials at the Washington-based International Monetary Fund "haven't received any request for financial assistance" from Greece, which is struggling with a debt crisis and facing a huge effort to restructure the economy.

Greece warned the European Union on Thursday it might go to the IMF unless it gets concrete aid pledges from European leaders next week as a new confrontation over the Greek debt crisis hit the euro.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told the European parliament in Brussels that "Europe must come in and say 'OK in this case -- we either can provide what an IMF would provide... or in the end Greece may have to choose the option to go to the IMF.'"

Reacting to Papandreou, the European Commission said it was "natural, logical and prudent" for Greece to keep all options open as Athens considers the possibility of going to the IMF.

Atkinson said it would depend on negotiations with governments before the IMF decides on any bailout of economies from financial troubles.

"There is a procedural issue that a country first requests financial assistance from us, and beyond that we can move very quickly. Sometimes there are things that hold us up. It just depends on the nature of the country," she explained.

"If you look at our experience, sometimes we move very quickly and sometimes not. It's not just whether we move quickly, it's what the conditions are with the country."

Asked whether the IMF was ready to arrange a loan for Greece, she said, "We're always ready, we hope to be ready for anything or everything to do with financial assistance."