IMF: Greece will suffer for a long time

ATHENS, Greece — The International Monetary Fund on Friday painted a bleak outlook for bail out dependent Greece, where it said it expects unemployment to stay in the double digits for more than three decades.

In an annual report, the IMF also called for further debt relief from the country’s European creditors going “well beyond” extant proposals if the country’s debt mountain is to become sustainable. Shooting another barb at the Europeans, who insist on long-term strict budgetary policies, the Washingtonbased organization said targets of high surpluses for years to come will impede growth and prove hard to achieve.

The report said Greek growth prospects remain weak, urged deeper cuts in “unaffordable” pensions to current retirees and a tax policy review involving lower overall rates, eliminating exemptions for the rich and efficiency in fighting tax evasion.

The left-led government is in negotiations with bailout inspectors onthe course of mandated reforms, whose completion would allow release of a $3.14 billion rescue loan installment.

Late Friday, it tabled to parliament for approval next week a raft of these reforms.