Greece thrown a lifeline by IMF

Greece has been thrown a 28 billion Euro lifeline by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday.

The IMF executive board approved a four-year loan arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility for Greece in the amount of special drawing right (SDR) 23.8 billion, or 28 billion euros, in support of Greek authorities' economic adjustment programme, the IMF said in a statement.

The approval allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 1.4 billion (about 1.65 billion euros) to the cash-strapped country, said the Washington-based global lender.

"The Executive Board also cancelled the three-year Stand-By Arrangement with Greece which had been approved in May 2010," reported Xinhua citing the statement.