"It's Not Over Until The Fat Lady Sings" Says IMF Chief While Zombies Protest

THE GUARDIAN (UK), REUTERS

IMF chief Christine Lagarde, will cut her Asian trip short to attend a meeting in Brussels on November 20 after a row broke out between euro zone governments and the IMF, keeping Athens from a much needed 31 billion euros package.

When asked about the possibility of a deal on Greece, Reuters reports that Lagarde told journalists in the Philippines, on Friday: “It is not over until the fat lady sings as the saying goes. It’s a question of working hard, putting our mind to it, making sure that we focus on the same objective which is that the country in particular, Greece, can operate on a sustainable basis, can recover, can get back on its feet, can re-access markets as early as possible.”

Publicly disagreeing with calls last week by euro zone finance ministers to extend Greece’s 2020 deadline to lower the GDP to 120%, Lagarde insisted the deadline stands and that policy commitments must be adhered to next year to boost euro zone economies.

Meanwhile, outside the Presidential palace in Manila, where Lagarde’s meetings are taking place, protesters gathered dressed as zombies, according to The Guardian. Organized by members of the Freedom for Debt Coalition in solidarity with people in the euro zone, protesters carried signs with slogans such as “IMF is an economic zombie” and “IMF is dead. A walking dead.”