Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has confirmed that Greece will not pay back the 1.6 billion euros it owes to the International Monetary Fund by this evening's deadline. While the IMF does not use the term "default," the missed payment is effectively the equivalent. Greece is the IMF's biggest debtor, owing a total of 5.5 billion euros by the end of the year.
On Monday, Greek leaders closed the country's banks for six days and imposed limits on ATM withdrawals to prevent bank failures after talks to extend an international bailout collapsed. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has also called a July 5 referendum that will let Greeks vote on whether to accept the harsh financial reforms creditors are demanding. Standard & Poor's estimates there's a 50 percent chance the country will leave the eurozone.
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