IMF chief to recommend aid for Greece

The head of the International Monetary Fund will recommend the release of a vital eight-billion-euro ($11 billion) slice of aid for debt-wracked Greece, a source close to the negotiations told AFP on Friday.Christine Lagarde will recommend the unblocking of the funds to the board of the IMF that will meet in the first half of November, the source said.IMF approval would be the final hurdle to the disbursement of the funds, after eurozone finance ministers agreed to release their 5.8-billion-euro portion earlier Friday.The ministers said in a statement that the disbursement of the funds was expected to take place in the first half of November, pending the approval by the board of the International Monetary Fund.Ministers also said they welcomed the substantial efforts undertaken by the Greek government, which should allow it to meet the targets for 2012.They called on Athens to make further strides in reducing its debt mountain and reiterated that a second 109-billion-euro bailout package agreed in July was still on the table.In order to ensure debt sustainability, we will conclude a second economic adjustment programme for Greece, with an appropriate combination of additional new official financing and private sector involvement, the statement said.The tranche of aid is crucial for debt-stricken Greece, which faces running out of money to pay civil servants and pensions in mid-November.It had been blocked since mid-September as a team of EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund auditors scrutinised the Greek governments reform efforts.Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos hailed the move as a positive step.He added that the huge sacrifices of the Greek people and the implementation of what he termed tough, but nationally necessary austerity measures would also form the basis for the second bailout fund.This will have beneficial effects at the level of liquidity, in investments, in employment and in the state of the real economy, said the minister in a statement after the talks.