Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras takes part in a session at the Greek Parliament in Athens on July 10, 2015.
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The group discussed Greeks’ proposal for reforms that aim at securing a bailout deal to prevent Greece from crashing out of the Eurozone.
Analysts are divided about the Greek Parliament’s decision to back Prime Minister Alexis Tsipra’s proposal Friday. He began by asking his combative finance minister, Yannis Varoufakis, to step down, suggesting that his departure would ease the mood in the negotiating room with creditors. Seven of the nine members of Parliament who were absent were members of his own left-wing SYRIZA party.
Lawmakers in Greece voted in the early hours of the morning to back the government’s proposals in order to unlock new funds from creditors. Investors were also encouraged by a second day of gains in…
“There is no doubt that for six months now we’ve been in a war, ” he said.
Greece has still not done enough to persuade its creditors to hand over another $80 billion in emergency loans, money it urgently needs to avoid bankruptcy and to keep using the euro.
Greece’s worldwide creditors still view the country’s reform proposals as insufficient to meet budget surplus targets, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said, citing an assessment paper provided to euro-area finance ministers. Here are…
Several ministers cautioned that the best possible outcome of this weekend’s meetings would be a go-ahead to Greece and the institutions to start negotiations on a full rescue package, which would include extra measures from Greece and the details of new financing. It would be the first country to do so, and the consequences for the country and global markets would be unpredictable.
Despite roundly voting “No” last Sunday to accepting tough austerity terms for a bailout that expired June 30, Greeks are alarmed at capital controls that have closed banks and rationed cash at ATMs for almost two weeks.
Greece’s parliament has approved a reform package to save the country from financial collapse, and sources in Brussels suggest Athens’ latest plan could form the basis of a massive new bailout worth 74 billion euros (NZ$122.93 billion).
“I think after the referendum we are in a stronger position”, he said.
“From here on there is a minefield, and I don’t have the right to dismiss or hide it from the Greek people”, he said.
Greece’s latest offer includes a slew of tax hikes, pension cuts and spending cuts in return for the aid package.
The cross-party support in Athens comes as Reuters reported EU sources saying the country’s creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the worldwide Monetary Fund – believe their Greek reform proposals are positive. Mr Tsipras needed the support of the opposition to win the vote.
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Syriza won election in January on a promise to throw off troika-mandated austerity that has pushed Greece’s unemployment rate above 25 percent even as the ratio of debt to gross domestic product has soared amid an economic contraction of more than 20 per cent. This time, Finland was on the frontline, with Finance Minister Alexander Stubb questioning a third bailout for Greece.
