Weidmann also said capital controls should remain in force in Greece until there was any deal, and that the ECB should not increase its liquidity assistance for Greek banks, without which they may collapse next week.
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Greece’s letter, and the full plan if it is tabled, will be discussed on Thursday by officials from the eurogroup – the technical advisers working on a deal – rather than by finance ministers. “If the argument is cost efficiency and whether Greece is overbanked, with four players there is a semblance of competition”, he said.
“You know, there was a promise for today”. “For the Greek government it’s every time ‘manana.”‘. Worldwide creditors disagree over whether to award the country debt relief. With a deadline just hours away to come up…
So it was with astonishment and dismay that European leaders learned Tsipras did not yet have a written proposal for new rescue aid. “I’m also somber about the question of whether Greece really wants to come up with proposals, with a solution”.
Greece’s eurozone partners have steadfastly said they want to help Greece stay in the currency club but have just as often complained about Greece dragging its feet during months of negotiations.
“I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride”, he said, adding that he fully supports the prime minister and the government.
1014 – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet members of Greece’s opposition parties on Thursday and Friday in Brussels as all sides seek a weekend deal to avert a Greek bankruptcy, a Commission spokesman says.
Under the agreed timetable, the leftist Greek government, which formally applied on Wednesday for a three-year loan from the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund, has until midnight to present convincing, detailed reform proposals.
“We are no longer talking about weeks but very few days”, she said. The committee acknowledged the possibility for disruption in European financial markets and said there could be spillover effects on the USA.
Greece’s new finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, disappointed his eurozone counterparts when he turned up to a meeting Tuesday without any concrete plans for ending the standoff.
Finance ministers from Finland and Slovakia made clear that canceling more Greek debt – following a similar exercise in 2012 – was unacceptable.
“Tomorrow we will openly submit our proposals with reliable reforms in order to reach what we have called an honest compromise”, Tsipras told Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos upon returning from Strasbourg.
But some European countries, especially Germany, have been reluctant.
1005 – Bulgarian Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski is quoted as saying Greek-owned banks in the Balkan country are “under controls” to prevent funds being sent to Greece.
The problem that Greece faces is that it can try to balance its budget and its creditors may write down the debt, but its membership of the euro does not allow it the vital third element of devaluing the currency and getting the necessary monetary stimulus, like Iceland, which recovered so quickly.
The government announced Wednesday that this was being renewed so they could withdraw the same sum.
Normal commerce is now impossible in Greece.
Pensioners without bank cards have been particularly hard hit as they have struggled to access their accounts. And suppliers are demanding that businesses pay cash up front. Tsakalotos, a 55-year-old economist, replaced Yanis Varoufakis, who constantly clashed with his peers.
They had been due to reopen on Tuesday but the head of the Greek Banking Association, Louka Katseli, said the period had been extended following talks on Monday.
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The latest developments in the Greek crisis come after 61 percent of Greeks voted last Sunday against the country’s bailout program from creditors, which entailed austerity measures and spending cuts.
