IMF chief hails second Greek bailout plan

International Monetary Fund ( IMF) chief Christine Lagarde lauded the Greek bailout plan on Tuesday and said she would take a recommendation to the IMF's Executive Board on funding Greece's bailout program. "I welcome the proposed understanding reached today by the Euro Group to support Greece," Lagarde said in a statement posted on IMF's website. "The combination of ambitious and broad policy efforts by Greece, and substantial and long-term financial contributions by the official and private sectors, will create the space needed to secure improvements in debt sustainability and competitiveness," she added. She noted that the success of the bailout strategy crucially depends on full and timely policy implementation by Greece and long-term support by euro area member states. Lagarde said she intends to make a recommendation to the Fund's Executive Board regarding its contribution in Greece's bailout program once the prior actions agreed with the Greek authorities are implemented and adequate financial contribution from the private sector is secured. Eurozone finance ministers approved a second bailout deal for Greece in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The 130-billion-euro (172-billion-U.S.-dollar) deal would help Greece avoid default since a huge repayment on its government debt will come due in March. Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker said private sector creditors were expected to take a write-down of 53.5 percent on the face value of their bonds as part of a debt exchange that involved about 200 billion euros (265 billion dollars). The IMF, which would contribute to the new bailout, hopes the new package will bring down Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio to 120 percent by 2020 from the current 160 percent.