The International Monetary Fund’s board approved the release of 1.72 billion euros ($2.3 billion) to Greece, helping replenish the country’s coffers through German elections in September that will help set the course of Europe’s crisis response.

“The Greek authorities have continued to make commendable progress in reducing fiscal and external imbalances,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a statement Monday. “However, progress on institutional and structural reforms, in the public sector and beyond, has still not been commensurate with the problems facing Greece. Greater reform efforts remain key to an economic recovery and lasting growth.”

Greece received IMF approval three days after obtaining the release of 2.5 billion euros from euro-area governments under their joint rescue package. One of the conditions was to push forward with a plan to put 4,200 state employees on notice for dismissal, which the Greek Parliament adopted last week.

With Greek 10-year bond yields six times Germany’s almost four years after the European debt crisis flared in Athens, the country is still relying on its international creditors. Greece’s financial fate has also become entwined with German politics, as Chancellor Angela Merkel campaigns for a third term on the promise that Germany won’t write off any of the loans made to Greece since the debt crisis broke.

That contrasts with repeated warnings by the IMF, which has said Greece’s debt level remains a risk to its recovery and suggested last month that the country may require faster debt relief from its European creditors.

The Greek debt burden is almost double the average of the 17-nation euro area, according to the European Union’s statistics office on July 22. First-quarter debt stood at 160.5 percent of gross domestic product.

Lagarde Monday reiterated that support from Europe to reduce Greece’s debt to “substantially below 110 percent of GDP by 2022” is welcome.

“Their continued commitment to provide adequate financial support to Greece during the life of the program and beyond until the country has regained market assess, provided that Greece complies fully with the program, remains essential,” Lagarde said.

Separately, the fund insists on seeing a 12-month guarantee of Greece’s financing in order to continue with its own lending, and a 3.8 billion-euro gap is expected in 2014. In a report it released last month, the fund pointed out 4.6 billion euros of yet-to-be identified financing for the bailout. 

(Bloomberg)