A meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Berlin Monday night ended with a call to intensify efforts to reach an agreement.
Unconfirmed reports said a draft document containing a final take-it or leave-it deal proposal for Athens, which covers fiscal adjustment measures and reforms in exchange for further vital cash to avert a looming default and "Grexit," or Greek exit from the eurozone, was discussed during the Berlin talks.
Time is running out and Greece's state coffers have run out of cash after four months of negotiations between the two sides.
Athens must repay about 300 million euros (331 million U.S. dollars) to the IMF this Friday and a total of 1.5 billion euros (1.65 billion U.S. dollars) by July.
Greek officials have repeatedly said that without international funding, it will not be feasible.
Greek government sources said Monday that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has not been in contact with foreign officials yet and Athens has not received a draft proposal.
Greek Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragassakis however warned that the Leftist government will not accept "any ultimatums" from lenders.
Addressing a meeting of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left in Athens Tuesday Dragassakis stressed that Greece would not "submit to blackmails," and that Greek economy and society "cannot tolerate anymore austerity" and outlined again what the government considers a fair and viable compromise deal.
The agreement with lenders, Dragassakis said, should include low primary budget surpluses for 2015 and 2016, policies to support the hardest hit by the crisis, and a clear road map to ensure the sustainability of the Greek debt load.
The Greek official said Athens seeks "a debt restructuring solution which will not put any more burden on European taxpayers" and a long-term growth plan.
"We are assuming the risk of our efforts. We will not become a mutant Left," Dragassakis said, amid mounting warnings by MPs of the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA party that they will not ratify a deal which will be incompatible with the party's pre-election anti-austerity program.
"In case of an ultimatum with policies which are not within the framework of the popular mandate, apparently we cannot accept it," SYRIZA parliamentary spokesman Nikos Filis told Greek media Tuesday.
"There is no room for more compromises from our side. We expect the other side to also assume its responsibilities," Labor Minister Panos Skourletis told local media.
Both officials stressed that if the final deal proposal was not a "decent compromise" and even a small group of about a dozen SYRIZA MPs (out of a total of 149 SYRIZA deputies in the 300-member parliament) voted against it, the government would have to call snap general elections.
Xinhua - china.org.cn
3/6/15
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Alexis Tsipras has said agreement on his country's debt crisis is in sight after late-night talks in Brussels...
ReplyDeleteHe said Greece would make a payment due to the IMF tomorrow, but the government still rejects benefit cuts and tax rises its creditors want before fresh loans are released to avert a bankruptcy.
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hosted Mr Tsipras for a late dinner at the EU executive's headquarters along with the chair of eurozone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
Creditors have signalled a will to compromise, notably by lowering how much surplus they want a new budget to generate to service Athens debts.
But as Mr Tsipras's party battles to retain support from voters who elected in January to end years of austerity, its spokesman in parliament renewed tough rhetoric at home.
Nikos Filis told a Greek broadcaster the government would not sign any "ultimatum" and would rather hold a new election if forced into a corner..........rte.ie
4/6/15
La Grèce et ses créanciers échouent toujours à trouver un compromis...
ReplyDeleteAu lendemain d’un dîner organisé par le président de la Commission européenne, le Premier ministre grec Alexis Tsipras a estimé qu’Athènes était proche d’un accord avec ses créanciers et honorerait le remboursement de 300 millions d’euros dûs au FMI.
Le Premier ministre grec Alexis Tsipras veut afficher son optimisme après les rencontres qu’il a eu mercredi avec ses créanciers, et notamment le dîner organisé mercredi soir au siège de l’exécutif européen à Bruxelles en compagnie de Jeroen Dijsselbloem, président de l’Eurogroupe. Le chef du gouvernement grec a en effet affirmé ce jeudi qu’Athènes était proche d’un accord avec ses créanciers internationaux.
Et selon lui, le pays honorera vendredi le remboursement de 300 millions d’euros dûs au FMI, premier versement d’un total de 1,6 milliard d’euros. « Ne vous inquiétez pas, nous avons déjà payé 7,5 milliards d’euros donc nous continuerons », a-t-il dit à des journalistes à sa sortie du dîner avec Jean-Claude Juncker et Jeroen Dijsselbloem.......lesechos.fr
4/6/15
Schuldenkrise in Griechenland: Wenn "konstruktive" Gespräche ohne Ergebnis bleiben...
ReplyDeleteDie Verhandlungen über Reformmaßnahmen zwischen EU-Kommissionspräsident Juncker und Premier Alexis Tsipras bringen keine Fortschritte. Die Teilnehmer nennen die Gespräche trotzdem konstruktiv.
"Es war ein gutes, konstruktives Gespräch", teilte die Europäische Kommission in einer Mitteilung um 1:28 Uhr mit. "Es wurden Fortschritte dabei gemacht, die jeweils anderen Positionen auf Basis verschiedener Vorschläge zu verstehen." Man habe bei den Gesprächen, an denen auch Euro-Gruppenchef Jeroen Dijsselbloem teilnahm, vereinbart, dass man sich wieder treffen werde. "Die intensive Arbeit wird weitergehen."...........n24.de
4/6/15
Merkel: no indication that IMF wants to pull out of Greece rescue...
ReplyDeleteGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday she had no indication that the International Monetary Fund wants to pull out of talks on a Greek rescue that also involve the European Union and the European Central bank.
"I haven't heard that the IMF wants to pull out, but rather what is at stake is a joint proposal," Merkel told RTL television, according to an advance text, when asked about media speculation in Germany that the IMF would have to pull out of the efforts because of its strict rules on debt.
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"That's what's being worked on. It's difficult and it has to accelerated rather than slowed. There is a lot of goodwill on our side but goodwill alone is not enough. At the end of the day it all needs to fit together."
REUTERS
todayonline.com
4/6/15