Greek minister to meet Obama, IMF officials in Washington
Yanis Varoufakis - Photo EC
(ATHENS) - Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will meet US President Barack Obama, the head of the European Central Bank and officials from the International Monetary Fund during a US visit later this week, his ministry said Tuesday.
The two-day visit comes as the Greek government remains locked in tense negotiations with its EU and IMF creditors on a list of reforms it must carry out to unblock 7.2 billion euros ($7.7 billion) of bailout loans.
Obama and Varoufakis will meet privately on Thursday afternoon, as part of a White House commemoration of Greece's 19th century independence struggle.
Greek minister may also cross paths with his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble.
The two men, who fundamentally disagree on how to revive Greece's shattered economy, have been invited to speak separately on Europe at the prestigious Brookings Institution think tank Thursday morning.
On Friday, the first day of World Bank and IMF Spring meetings, the radical left-wing Varoufakis will hold talks with ECB president Mario Draghi, his Italian counterpart Pier Carlo Padoan and US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
Other officials involved in the tough negotiations between Greece and its creditors will also be present, among them IMF chief Christine Lagarde and EU Finance Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.