The International Monetary Fund΄s number two official on Friday expressed cautious optimism that Greece would take the necessary steps to put its bailout program back on track.
"We believe that the prime minister, the finance minister are dedicated to finding an appropriate path for adjustment, getting things back on track and we΄re trying to help," IMF First Deputy Manager David Lipton said in an interview on CNBC.
"I΄m optimistic in the sense that I think they΄re working hard, they want to stay in the euro zone, they want to get their country going again," Lipton said, adding an IMF mission would be visiting the country next week.
Lipton acknowledged there continues to be a debate over whether the terms of the bailout program are too tough on Greece in terms of required government spending cuts.
"There΄s been a lot of discussion about the appropriate pace of adjustment. Of course, the limit to austerity is finance. If you΄re going to have less austerity and have a slower path of adjustment, there has to be more finance," he said.
Lipton, who is in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for an annual meeting of monetary policymakers, noted the overall global economic recovery continues "to be a rocky one."
But if the U.S. can avoid its looming "fiscal cliff" at the end of this year and Europe can manage its debt woes, "we see growth continuing, albeit with slower than historical growth in the advanced economies," Lipton said.
Europe΄s "problem is to make sure that they can dispel the doubts about the viability of the euro, doubts that people and markets have, and secondly that they can see the growth recover as a basis for doing all the other things that they need to do," he said.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi΄s plan to help to prop up growth by buying sovereign nation debt is "conceptually right on target," Lipton said.
"He΄s got the right idea, the right approach and he needs the conditions under which his action can be effective. He needs the countries of the periphery to be doing what they need to do and then he can act," Lipton said. (capital)
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