Greece Asked IMF To Delay Debt Repayment: Report

Greek officials have quietly approached the International Monetary Fund to ask for deadlines for loan repayments to be pushed back, but the request was denied, the Financial Times reported Thursday. In private discussions, the representatives were "persuaded not to make a specific request" for a delay to the international lender, the FT said, citing unnamed officials on both sides of the Greek debt negotiations. Athens is scheduled to repay 195.1 billion euros to the IMF on May 1, but must also find the cash to cover its public-sector wage bill for the same month. On Thursday, Greek bond yields soared, with the yield on two-year Greek debt climbing 2.9 percentage points to 25.9% and the yield on 10-year bonds up 1 percentage point to 12.6%.