Greek failure to pay IMF not the same as default: ECB's Nowotny

VIENNA (Reuters) - Greece has not repaid money to the International Monetary Fund that was due on Tuesday, a European Central Bank policy maker said, describing this as a delay in repayment rather than a default.

"Today, when a payment to the IMF was due, the payment was not made. That is not immediately a case of default. Rather, it is a delay in the repayment," said Ewald Nowotny, who heads Austria's central bank and sits on the ECB's decision-making Governing Council.

He said that Greece's rejection of the euro zone's bailout terms began a risky new phase for the country.

"I don't want to speculate ... but I think it's clear that a refusal of the proposals that came from the European institutions means ... that a chapter has been closed and a second one opens that is very risky and difficult, namely, how a country copes without access to ECB liquidity."

(Reporting By Thomas Atkins; Writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)