IMF officials say they want less austerity for Greece, not more

Fund and European creditors still disagree on design of Greek programme

Markets have responded nervously to Syriza's success in the Greek elections
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has implemented deep spending cuts but avoided many other reforms

Two of the International Monetary Fund's top officials have hit back at critics of the organisation's stance on Greece, saying the fund wants less austerity for the crisis-hit country, not more.

The IMF is in favour of a lower fiscal surplus target than Greece's European partners are demanding, chief economist Maurice Obstfeld and European department head Poul Thomsen wrote in a blog post on December 12.

The IMF believes a target of 1.5% of GDP by 2018 is realistic, but European creditors are

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