IMF must help avoid Greek "explosion": Italy`s Monti
Baku, February 10 (AZERTAC). Greece`s debt crisis on Thursday dominated the first day of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti`s visit to the United States, as he urged the International Monetary Fund to be more lenient with Athens in bailout talks to prevent "a big potential explosion."
Monti welcomed the IMF`s insistence that Europe erect a strong firewall to prevent debt contagion from spreading, but he also said the fund should not be too rigid in how it applies its lending requirements.
"If there is a minimum of compliance with the requirements set out, this is the moment to turn the page and extinguish this potential big explosion," Monti told an economics think-tank before meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House.
Later in a news conference at the Italian Embassy, Monti said he had discussed Greece with Obama and that it was in everyone`s interest to ensure a "non-explosive solution of the Greek case."
He also discussed the euro zone debt crisis with U.S. congressional leaders. On Friday, the Italian prime minister heads to New York where he will try to persuade Wall Street investors of his efforts to bring the budget of the euro zone`s third-largest economy under control.
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