French police has said that a letter bomb has exploded at the International Monetary Fund, IMF, office in Paris, injuring the employee who opened it.

The IMF employee received hand and face injuries, and staff were evacuated.

IMF director Christine Lagarde condemned the “cowardly act of violence” against IMF staff.

In another development, the German finance ministry in Berlin intercepted a parcel bomb sent to Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday.

A Greek far-left group, the Conspiracy of Fire Cells, said on a website that it had sent the German device.

Lagarde said in a statement that the IMF was working closely with the French authorities to investigate the letter blast.

Unnamed police sources quoted by local newspaper Le Parisien said the device may have been a firework.

The letter was delivered by post, the Paris police prefect was quoted assaying but its origin was not given immediately.

The office is located on the Avenue Iena, in a central district of the city centre near the Champs Elysees.

The IMF is one of three organisations, along with the European Commission and the European Central Bank, ECB, which bailed out the Greek government after it came close to defaulting on its debts.

In Germany, the German Finance Minister, Schaeuble, is due to host the new US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, later on Thursday.

The device sent to Schaeuble’s ministry, which was intercepted in the mail room, was designed to cause “severe injuries” when it was opened, local police said in a statement quoted by AFP news agency.

A Greek police source quoted by the same agency said the package had had a Greek stamp.

Its “sender” was given as a deputy leader of the opposition New Democracy party along with his real address, AFP added.