IMF demands EU debt relief for Greece before new bailout

In talks with Tsipras about struggling economy, Lagarde sets out fresh conditions for further financial aid

The European Union will need to provide significant debt relief for Greece if it is to persuade the International Monetary Fund to put its financial clout behind the country's third bailout package, the Washington-based organisation has said.

After what was described as a cordial meeting between the IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, and the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the fund said it was only prepared to support the recession-ravaged eurozone country on a strings-attached basis.

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