IMF sends mission to Greece to assess performance under austerity program

Christine Lagarde, the IMF chief

flickr-World Economic F...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sends a mission to Greece to assess the country's performance under an austerity program backed by international lenders. 

In mid-January, Greece had to enact a series of new fiscal reforms in order to receive the second half of its latest bailout package of €49.1 billion.

The crisis-torn country received the first half of its third bailout installment worth €34.3 billion in December 2012 and was poised to obtain another €9.2 billion at the end of January, if key reforms were carried out.

On January 16, the IMF unblocked a €3.2 billion payment to Greece, lagging the EU aid disbursements amid concerns about the country's lack of progress in reforms demanded under the bailout program.