Focusing on European immigration countries, here is a piece of news regarding the investment immigration country Greece. On May 31, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursement of 1.74 billion euros (approximately 2.26 billion US dollars) in aid to Greece. This funding is part of a joint rescue plan for Greece by the European Commission and the IMF. The IMF's approval of the funds indicates that the Greek aid program is essentially on track.
Since 2010, four member countries of the Eurozone—Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus—have applied for external aid funds. In May 2012, Greece underwent the largest debt restructuring in history, forcing private sector creditors to bear over 50% of the debt write-down losses. The IMF has called for Greek private sector creditors to undertake further significant debt write-downs if necessary, while also urging Eurozone governments to write down loans provided to Greece to alleviate the country's heavy debt burden. However, the IMF insists that it is a priority creditor and is exempt from such write-downs.
In its latest report released in May, the IMF questioned the practice of using large amounts of public funds to ensure repayment to private creditors. The IMF stated in the report: "When a country applying for aid is unlikely to repay all its debts, using aid funds to repay private creditors is a poor practice, raising suspicions of fund misuse." The IMF suggested that Eurozone member countries should restructure debt as early as possible, even before receiving aid, stating that "delaying debt restructuring will exacerbate moral hazard and issues of burden-sharing."
The Wall Street Journal believes that it is not easy for the IMF to remain uninvolved in potential official sector participation in Greek debt reduction. If the IMF refuses, it means that the responsibility for such debt reduction will fall entirely on taxpayers; if the IMF agrees to participate, its status as a priority creditor will be weakened.