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International Monetary Fund (IMF) is refusing to grant Greece a delay in payment of its debt in May, IMF head Christine Lagarde said, according to Sputnik. 

According to the Financial Times newspaper's Thursday report, Lagarde had explained the policy of not granting delay requests to Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis after Greece informally asked for more time earlier this month.

"Payment delays have not been granted by the board of the IMF in 30 years. We have been able to express and explain the policy of the IMF in terms of payment delays and give the precedents and history of that to Mr Varoufakis," Lagarde said at a press conference, as quoted by the Financial Times.

Lagarde called on Athens to implement "tedious" work of designing reforms for the country's economy, saying that stability "is not done by a political last-minute accord, it's done by looking at measures, committing to reforms, measuring what the outcome will be."