Euro rises fourth fay as Greece pledges to pay IMF

By Kevin Buckland & Netty Ismail

The euro strengthened for a fourth day against the dollar after Greece pledged to make a payment to the International Monetary Fund on time this week.

The shared currency gained against 11 of its 16 major counterparts after Greece?s Alternate Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas said on Saturday the country will make the payment of about 450 million euros ($494 million) due April 9. A gauge of the U.S. dollar held a three-day decline after a report last week showed employers added the least jobs since December 2013. Australia?s currency approached parity with New Zealand?s.

?The market?s pretty much siding with the view that Greece will make that payment,? said Prashant Newnaha, a rates strategist at TD Securities Inc. in Singapore. ?If they do make that payment, that?s also going to be a positive for the euro.?

The euro advanced 0.1 percent to $1.0976 at 7:01 a.m. in London, extending its four-day gain to 2.3 percent. The single currency rose 0.1 percent to 130.64 yen. The yen was little changed at 119.02 per dollar.

Greece and euro-area authorities are in negotiations about a package of measures proposed by the government to repair its economy, a condition for the release of bailout funds.

?The country will pay the IMF on April 9,? Mardas said in an interview on Mega TV on Saturday. ?There?s money there for payment of salaries, pensions and whatever else is needed for all of next week.?

Euro?s Slide

The euro has tumbled 5.7 percent this year, Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes show, as the central bank started bond purchases and investors grew concerned economic woes in Greece will see it leave the currency union. The dollar gained 5.1 percent and the yen advanced 5.8...