国际英语新闻：Talks on IMF rescue to end rather soon, says Greek finance minister

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Greece's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 15-billion-euro (about 20 billion U.S. dollars) rescue will end rather soon, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstaninou said here on Sunday.

"What I can say at this moment is that we are confident these negotiations ... will be concluded rather soon," said Papaconstaninou at a press conference in Washington after a meeting with IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn earlier on Sunday, on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings.

Greece's Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou attends a news conference at the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, April 25, 2010.

He said the negotiations are going very well, adding that he had met with finance ministers of the United States, Brazil and Russia, and is going to meet the Chinese finance minister later on Sunday.

Technical discussions with the IMF are also underway, he said.

Talks with European partners on a 30-billion-euro bailout are going on simultaneously, he added.