WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Monday that U.S. support is vital for Greece, after a day of Washington meetings as Athens pushed to finalize its second massive international bailout.

“The support provided by the US government is especially important for Greece, for the eurozone, for the international economy and for the global economic governance,” he told reporters following meetings with International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

<YONHAP PHOTO-2550> Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos gives a press conference in Athens on July 22, 2011, hours after eurozone leaders and private creditors agreed to give Greece a new 159-billion-euro bailout, risking a potential default to prevent the debt crisis from spreading worldwide. Venizelos said the debt rescue for Greece announced by eurozone leaders is a
<YONHAP PHOTO-2550> Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos gives a press conference in Athens on July 22, 2011, hours after eurozone leaders and private creditors agreed to give Greece a new 159-billion-euro bailout, risking a potential default to prevent the debt crisis from spreading worldwide. Venizelos said the debt rescue for Greece announced by eurozone leaders is a "great relief" for the economy and a sound guarantee for its banks, but he insisted that Greece had to apply assiduously the reforms agreed with the EU and the International Monetary Fund to keep alive hopes of returning to economic growth next year. AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKI /2011-07-22 19:38:34/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2011 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.> Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos. AFP-Yonhap News

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos. (AFP-Yonhap News)

Venizelos did not say just how much support he was seeking from the IMF ― where the United States has a huge say on its emergency loans.

But he did say supporting Greece and the eurozone was “in the interest of the U.S. as the leading power in the global economy.”

“Their support, especially through the IMF, is vital for us, but also for international monetary stability.”

The IMF has yet to say how much money it will commit to the new 159-billion-euro ($229 billion) rescue plan the European Union crafted for Greece last week.

“We can breathe easier but now the key point is to implement the program,”

Venizelos said.

“The eurozone is always open to the participation and assistance of the IMF, which has a vast experience and know-how. This is the real reason of my visit here in Washington today.”

The IMF already made its largest-ever bailout loan, 30 billion euros, to the first rescue of Athens, and there had been some concern that the Fund would be resistant to adding money to a new program.

Official Treasury and IMF statements about the meetings Monday offered little concrete about the discussions.

The Treasury said in a statement that Geithner “welcomed the progress Greece has already made toward strengthening its public finances and underscored the need for continued and full implementation of the program.”

The U.S. is not a part of the new rescue for Greece, but as the most powerful country, voting-wise, on the IMF board, it has oversized power in determining the Fund’s most important programs.

Meanwhile the Institute of International Finance, which coordinated the private banks that agreed to roll over Athens’s debt at a loss to reduce its debt payments and make the second plan work, called IMF participation crucial.

“Let me be clear: Europe knows, the IMF knows, we all know it does not work without continued IMF support,” IIF managing director Charles Dallara told reporters in Washington.

Without IMF participation, he said, “I think not only our deal’s invalid but Europe’s Marshall Plan (the second bailout) (and) the IMF’s Greek program too,” he said.