Greek debt: will EU and IMF finally offer light at the end of the tunnel?

Meeting between Angela Merkel and Christine Lagarde could end impasse - though austerity is unlikely to end

Knocked off the front pages by Brexit and Donald Trump, Greece is back on the agenda. The country's two most important creditors will meet in Berlin on Wednesday when the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, hosts the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde.

It could be a fateful meeting. Europe and the IMF have been at loggerheads for months over whether Greece will ever be able to repay its debts - a disagreement that has stopped the Washington-based fund from signing up to a a86bn-bailout programme crafted by EU leaders in July 2015. Merkel and other European leaders, who face elections, are anxious to bring the IMF on board, to persuade sceptical voters the bailout is credible.

Related: Greece standoff over a86bn bailout eases after Brussels deal