High rates would cripple Greece -IMF official in paper

Lending bail-out funds to Greece at high interest rates would make an economic recovery impossible, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday.

IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard also said the Group of 20 nations should focus on reducing their own debt and deficit.

"Of course, Greece must tighten its belt to pull itself out of the trouble it got itself into," Blanchard said in an interview in Le Monde newspaper.

"But lending it rescue funds at high interest rates doesn't make sense, because it would make a recovery impossible."