Berlin, ESM unhappy with early IMF payoff

The German Finance Ministry holds a negative view of the prospect of Greece paying off its debt to the International Monetary Fund early, according to a report in German financial newspaper Handelsblatt on Friday.

"We continue to perceive with serious reservations an early repayment of the IMF," reads a note by the ministry led by Olaf Scholz which Handelsblatt has seen. The report explains this negative attitude is based on the fear that this development would be seen as an IMF departure from Greece, which Berlin would want to avoid. Both the German ministry and the Bundestag have always insisted on the Fund remaining in the Greek bailout program for its know-how in crisis management.

The German daily added that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's promise to expel the Fund from Greece will not materialize, as that would require the consent of the German parliament; the...