IMF official admits: austerity is harming Greece

http://www.guardian.co.uk

IMF official admits: austerity is harming Greece

Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s mission in Greece, concedes: ‘social tolerance and political support have their limitations’A leading architect of the austerity programme in Greece – one of the harshest ever seen in Europe – has admitted that its emphasis on fiscal consolidation has failed to work, and said economic recovery will only come if the crisis-hit country changes tack and focuses on structural reforms. Poul Thomsen, a senior International Monetary Fund official who oversees the organisation’s mission in Greece, also insists that, contrary to popular belief, Athens has achieved a lot since the eruption of the debt crisis in December 2009.