Europe

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned on Thursday, hoping to strengthen his hold on power in snap elections after seven months in office in which he fought Greece's creditors for a better bailout deal but had to cave in.

Greece started loosening restrictions on foreign transfers by businesses on Friday, unblocking imports held up after the country introduced capital controls last month.

Greece has repaid its arrears to the International Monetary Fund, worth about 2 billion euros, IMF communications director Gerry Rice said on Monday.

A senior Greek official confirmed on Thursday that banks would reopen on Monday and said the government was looking into allowing people to bunch 60 euro withdrawals over several days.

The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it was prepared to work with Athens and its European creditors to help resolve Greece's debt crisis now that a conditional agreement has been reached on a new bailout.