by Magda Panoutsopoulou
ATHENS, Greece
Greece has the funds needed to pay a $750 million debt installment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, according to several reports.
Greek government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis stressed that the government has the responsibility to meet its obligations both to external creditors and those within the country, and added that the installment payment does not depend on the outcome of the Eurogroup meeting on Monday, as this could be seen as an unfair attempt to influence the negotiatons.
A Greek minister who was not identified told The Telegraph on Monday that the funds were in place, but that funds to pay future installments might not be.
In June alone, Greece owes another €1.5 billion ($1.68 billion) to the International Monetary Fund, and it owes another €3 billion ($3.35 billion) to the European Central Bank in July and August.
Without a bailout deal with the Eurogroup, Greece could be out of funds to run its banks and public services by the end of the month. On Monday, at a meeting in Brussels, the Eurogroup will attempt to negotiate a bailout agreement with the Greek government.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Monday said in an interview with the radio station “Sto Kokkino,” that such an agreement would be "very difficult."
"The government has done what is humanly possible. The solution is visible as long as there is political will from the side of the creditors," Varoufakis said.
Varoufakis underlined that "the government is not going to sign an agreement that does not include the prospective of exiting the crisis, an agreement that would not deal with the major issues of debt, unemployment and recession."
The finance minister said that Greece needs “an income redistribution policy and a shift of the burden of the crisis from the shoulders of the many to those who should have carried the burden.”
But he reiterated the government's aim to find a solution in the next few days.
Over the weekend, intense meetings were held by the Greek cabinet in which they examined final responses in the negotiations with Greece's lenders.
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