IMF resident representative to leave Portugal in September

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of the three contributors to the 78 billion euro bailout the country signed in 2011 to avoid bankruptcy, will not designate a new representative after the Resident Representative in Lisbon, Albert Jaeger, goes back to Washington at the end of September, Portuguese Lusa News Agency reported on Friday.

The IMF's office in Lisbon closes shortly before the elections take place on Oct. 4.

The fund will still be visiting the Portuguese capital to monitor the country's program two times per year, according to Lusa.

The rules under the IMF's monitoring program determine that countries must be accompanied until the debt they have to pay is lower than 200 percent of their respective share of the fund, which in Portugal is only expected to happen in 2022.

The IMF has said that Portugal's economic recovery remains on track but that further austerity is still required after the general elections while the center-right ruling coalition claims the IMF is too pessimistic regarding the country's recovery.