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The Greek government has submitted a list of reform proposals to its bailout creditors, the European Commission announces.
The list was received “on time”, a spokesman tweeted.
The measures include combating tax evasion and tackling fuel and tobacco smuggling.
PM Alexis Tsipras is trying to balance satisfying the demands of creditors with meeting his pre-election pledges, say correspondents.
Greece needs approval from international creditors to secure a four-month loan extension.
“In the Commission’s view, this list is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review,” a source close to the European Commission told Reuters news agency.
Drafts of the list will have been seen by European officials in Brussels as they were being drawn up over the weekend, but aspects of the plan that require new social spending may well be sticking points with creditors.
Ending home repossessions and providing free medical care and electricity for those who cannot pay may become bones of contention – while the eurozone may insist pension cuts and VAT rises should continue.
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Greece has missed the February 23 deadline in sending a list of reforms aimed at securing a bailout extension to EU partners.
The Greek government will send the list on Tuesday morning, officials say.
The list must be approved by international creditors to secure a four-month loan extension.
Analysts say the deal’s collapse would revive fears Greece will exit the euro.
Minister of state Nikos Pappas says the list will include measures to fight tax evasion and trim the civil service.
German newspaper Bild, citing an unnamed source, reports that Greece aims to recover 7.3 billion euros ($8.3 billion) with measures to combat tax evasion.
A spokesman for the German finance ministry, Martin Jaeger, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency that Berlin expected the Greek plan to be “coherent and plausible”.
Greece agreed at a meeting with its EU and IMF lenders on February 20 to submit the list of reforms before Tuesday, February 24.
But officials said later that the Eurogroup had agreed to a delay though no reason was given.
“The list of reforms will be sent to the finance ministers of the Eurogroup on Tuesday morning, while a teleconference will take place in the afternoon,” one official told Reuters news agency.
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The Greek government is preparing to present a list of reforms to lenders in order to secure a bailout extension.
The list to be submitted on February 23 must be approved by international creditors to secure a four-month loan extension.
Analysts say a collapse of the deal would revive fears of a Greek exit from the euro.
Minister of state Nikos Pappas said the list would include measures to tackle tax evasion and streamline the civil service.
German newspaper Bild, citing an unnamed source, reports that Greece aims to recover 7.3 billion euros ($8.3 billion) with measures to combat tax evasion.
A spokesman for the German finance ministry, Martin Jaeger, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency that Berlin expected the Greek plan to be “coherent and plausible”.
Greece agreed at a meeting with its EI and IMF lenders on February 20 to submit the list of reforms before February 24.
Bild, Germany’s biggest-selling newspaper, was publicly attacked on February 20 by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis who remarked about an earlier story: “One must believe @BILD’s tall stories [about Greece] at one’s peril.”
In a new article, the newspaper breaks down what it says is a tax hit list devised by the Greek government.
It will reportedly seek to raise 2.5 billion euros from the fortunes of rich Greeks, 2.5 billion from back taxes owed by individuals and businesses, and 2.3 billion from a crackdown on tobacco and petrol smuggling.
Martin Jaeger said the Greek reform plan, once received, would be examined by Greece’s three creditors – the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF.
Once the three lenders had delivered their opinion, it would be discussed by eurozone finance ministers in a conference call on February 24, he said, according to Reuters.
Yanis Varoufakis has said the bailout agreement will be “dead” if the list of reforms his government is drafting is not approved.
The new Greek government, led by PM Alexis Tsipras, was elected by promising to reverse austerity.
The four-month extension deal is widely regarded as a major climb-down for PM Alexis Tsipras, who won power vowing to reverse budget cuts.
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Greece’s anti-austerity PM Alexis Tsipras has warned of “real difficulties” ahead, as his government faces February 23 deadline to submit a list of reforms to lenders.
Under a deal agreed on February 20, the list must be approved by the international creditors in order for Greece to secure a four-month extension of its bailout.
“We won a battle, not the war,” Alexis Tspiras said on February 21.
The deal is widely regarded as a major climb down for the prime minister, who won power vowing to reverse budget cuts.
Alexis Tsipras hailed the agreement as a “decisive step” that “achieved much” towards ending austerity, but added: “We have a long and difficult road ahead.”
The Greek cabinet is due to meet to discuss it on February 21.
No details have emerged about the potential list of reforms, which must be approved before eurozone members ratify the bailout extension on Tuesday.
Analysts say a collapse of the deal would revive fears of an exit from the euro, a so-called “grexit” – something both the EU and Greece say they want to avoid.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stressed on February 20 that there would be no payment of new funds to Greece until the conditions of the deal had been met.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he would work night and day until February 23 to devise the list of reforms.
“If the list of reforms is not agreed, this agreement is dead,” he admitted.
The Greek Communist Party (KKE) accused the coalition, which is led by its far-left rivals Syriza, of extending the bailout without getting the loan conditions changed.
“Ultimately the bill will be footed by the people, as it happened with all previous governments,” KKE leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas said.
The Greek government is already in trouble with its voters for seeking the bailout extension at all – something it swore it would never do.
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Greece and the eurozone finance ministers have reached a deal to extend its bailout by four months after talks in Brussels.
The extension will allow Greece to negotiate a follow-up arrangement with creditors.
“The Greek authorities have expressed their strong commitment to a broader and deeper structural reform process aimed at durably improving growth and employment prospects, ensuring stability and resilience of the financial sector and enhancing social fairness,” the Eurogroup said in a statement.
Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup, said that Athens had pledged to honor all its debts.
“This is a very positive outcome,” Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a news conference on Friday night.
“I think tonight was a first step in this process of rebuilding trust. As you know trust leaves quicker than it comes. Tonight was a very important, I think, step in that process,” he added.
Greece had agreed to present an initial list of reform measures by February 23, Jeroen Dijsselbloem said.
Athens welcomed the deal, which a Greek government official said gave it time to negotiate a “new deal”.
“Greece has turned a page,” the official said.
“We have avoided recessionary measures.”
Greece had been seeking a six-month extension of the bailout but the Eurogroup opted for four months.
The euro gained against the US dollar on February 20 following the announcement, adding 0.3% to $1.1403, while the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 struck new intraday highs.
The agreement removes the immediate risk of Greece running out of money next month.
The new deal also provides a breathing space for the new Greek government to try to negotiate longer-term debt relief with its EU creditors.
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Germany has rejected Greece’s request for a six-month loan extension to eurozone.
The rejection came despite the European Commission calling the Greek request “positive” only minutes earlier.
Greece had sought a new six-month assistance package, rather than a renewal of the existing deal that comes with tough austerity conditions.
However, a German finance ministry spokesman said the new plea was “not a substantial proposal for a solution”.
The Greek request letter includes a pledge to maintain “fiscal balance” for a six-month period, while it negotiates with eurozone partners over long-term growth and debt reduction.
The Greek government was also reported as saying that its extension proposal was in order to give Athens enough time, without the threat of “blackmail and time deficits”, to draw up a new agreement with Europe for growth over the next four years.
The German finance ministry spokesman said the Greek request was an attempt at “bridge financing, without meeting the requirements of the program. The letter does not meet the criteria agreed upon in the Eurogroup on Monday.”
Shortly before the German rejection of the proposal, a European Commission spokesman said that Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker regarded the letter as a “positive sign, which, in his assessment, could pave the way for a reasonable compromise in the interest of the financial stability in the euro area as a whole”.
“The detailed assessment of the [Greek loan] letter and the response is now up to the Eurogroup,” the spokesman added, referring to the discussions due to take place on February 20 when European finance ministers meet in Brussels.
In comments aimed at Germany, a Greek government source said the Eurogroup had “just two choices: to accept or reject the Greek request. We will now discover who wants to find a solution, and who does not”.
Tomorrow’s vote on the Greek proposals must be unanimous. If no agreement appears likely before the ministers gather, the meeting could be postponed.
The uncertainty was reflected on stock markets, with the FTSE 100 and Frankfurt’s DAX index both losing early gains after Germany’s rejection.
Greece could run out of money by the end of February without a deal and deposits continue to flow out of its banks.
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Greece has submitted a loan extension request to the eurozone on February 19 after weeks of wrangling over its international bailout.
The country is seeking a six-month assistance package, rather than a renewal of the existing deal which comes with tough austerity conditions.
Details of the request have not been made public, but any deal is likely to differ from the current bailout conditions set by the eurozone.
Eurozone finance ministers will meet in Brussels on February 20 to discuss the move.
The Greek request includes a pledge to maintain “fiscal balance” for a six-month period, while it negotiates with eurozone partners over long-term growth and debt reduction, Reuters has reported.
The government was also reported as saying that its extension proposal was in order to give Athens enough time, without the threat of “blackmail and time deficits”, to draw up a new agreement with Europe for growth over the next four years.
Greece faces running out of money by the end of the month without a deal.
The loan request follows days of negotiations between eurozone finance ministers and Greek government’s anti-austerity Syriza party.
It will now be reviewed by the eurozone leaders, as well as representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission.
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According to new reports, Greece is expected to request a six-month extension of its loan agreement on February 18.
The loan would not be an extension of the current bailout agreement, which includes strict austerity measures, Greek government officials were quoted as saying.
On February 16, Greece rejected a plan to extend its 240 billion euros bailout describing it as “absurd”.
Without a deal, Greece is likely to run out of money.
The eurozone has given Greece until February 20 to decide if it wants to continue with the current bailout deal.
Greece wants to replace the bailout with a new loan that it says would give it time to find a permanent solution to the debt crisis.
The country’s current bailout expires on February 28. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments, so time is running out to reach a compromise.
Earlier Greek PM Alexis Tsipras called for a vote to scrap its austerity program on February 20, the same day as the eurozone deadline.
“We will not succumb to psychological blackmail,” Alexis Tsipras told parliament.
“We are not in a hurry and we will not compromise.”
Earlier, Germany’s Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said that Greece needed to make up its mind whether it wanted to extend the bailout program.
“None of my colleagues so far understands what Greece wants… whether Greece itself knows is not clear either,” he said.
Alexis Tsipras criticized Wolfgang Schaeuble, saying that the German finance minister had lost his cool on Monday.
“Not because he spoke up against the Greek government, because that is his right, but he spoke condescendingly towards the Greek people,” he said.
The Greek stock exchange closed down by 2.45%, having fallen by as much as 4% earlier in the day.
JP Morgan claimed over the weekend that €2 billion worth of deposits was flowing out of Greek banks each week and estimated that if that were to remain the case, they would run out of cash to use as collateral against new loans within 14 weeks.
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The Greek stock market fell by more than 4% at its open on Tuesday, February 17, after European finance ministers failed to reach a new deal to restructure the country’s debts.
Greek bank shares fell almost 9%, while the government’s borrowing costs rose, with the yield on a 10-year sovereign bond rising 82 basis points to 10.74%.
On Monday night, Greece rejected a plan to extend its €240 billion bailout.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis called the EU deal “absurd” and “unacceptable”.
However, Yanis Varoufakis declared he was ready to do “whatever it takes” to reach agreement over Greece’s bailout, despite the collapse of the talks.
He also said he was prepared to agree a deal under different conditions.
The Greek stock exchange recovered some ground as the day progressed, but at midday on Tuesday in Athens, it was still 2.25% lower.
Stock exchanges across Europe all fell in morning trade before recovering.
Germany’s main index, the Dax, was 0.35% lower and France’s blue chip index, the CAC-40, down 0.19% at mid-day.
In the UK, which has less exposure to Greece’s debt woes, the FTSE 100 Index which also started the day lower, had risen 0.45% by lunchtime.
JP Morgan claimed over the weekend that €2 billion worth of deposits was flowing out of Greek banks each week and estimated that if that were to remain the case, they would run out of cash to use as collateral against new loans within 14 weeks.
The investment bank’s estimate is based on a calculation that a maximum of €108 billion of deposits is left in Greek banks.
The most up-to-date figures from the Greek central bank show deposits dropped 2.4% month-on-month in December to €160.3 billion from €164.3 billion, marking the third monthly fall in a row.
Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who is also chairing the Eurogroup meetings of eurozone finance ministers, warned on Monday night there were just days left for talks.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem said it was now “up to Greece” to decide if it wanted more funding or not.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, he said: “I hope they [Greece] will ask for an extension to the program, and once they do that, we can allow flexibility, they can put in their political priorities.
“Of course, we will see whether their program remains on track. But that is the way forward. It’s really up to the Greeks. We cannot make them or ask them. It really it really is up to them. We stand ready to work with them, also [over] the next couple of days.”
Greece’s current bailout expires on February 28. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments, so time is running out to reach a compromise.
Without a deal, Greece is likely to run out of money.
On Tuesday morning, Luxembourg’s Finance Minister, Pierre Gramegna, called for a greater degree of compromise on both sides.
“We can’t remain in a blockade, so everyone has to move a bit, water down demands, so we can find a compromise. There are flexibilities in the program, we have to make use of them,” he said.
“When the Greeks are against the programme and don’t want to work in this framework, it will be tough.”
Yanis Varoufakis said on Tuesday ministers would “continue to deliberate”, in order to enhance the chances of a deal.
He added he wanted to achieve “a very good outcome for the average European. Not for the average Greek, the average Dutch person or the average German”.
“We know in Europe how to deliberate in such a way as to create an honourable solution out of an initial disagreement,” Yanis Varoufakis said.
Greece has proposed a new bailout program that involves a bridging loan to keep the country going for six months and help it repay €7 billion of maturing bonds.
The second part of the plan would see Greece’s debt refinanced. Part of this might be through “GDP bonds” – bonds carrying an interest rate linked to economic growth.
Greece also wants to see a reduction in the primary surplus target – the surplus the government must generate (excluding interest payments on debt) – from 3% to 1.49% of GDP.
Two opinion polls last week indicated that 79% of Greeks supported the government’s policies, and 74% believed its negotiating strategy would succeed.
Greece is ready to do “whatever it takes” to reach agreement on its bailout in the next two days, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said.
Yanis Varoufakis was speaking after talks with EU finance ministers broke down earlier than expected, with Greece describing the EU’s offer as “absurd”.
“I have no doubt that there is going to be a agreement in the end which will be very therapeutic for Greece,” he said.
Greece wants the conditions of its €240 billion bailout restructured.
Yanis Varoufakis said “within the next 48 hours” Europe would find the phrasing that was necessary to satisfy both Greece and Europe.
However, he said there was “substantial disagreement” on whether the task ahead was to complete the current program, which his government has pledged to scrap.
Yanis Varoufakis also said that he had been presented with a draft communiqué which he had been ready to sign, but that it had been withdrawn minutes before the meeting started.
The Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem also said there was still time for Greece to agree an extension.
“There is time and ample room to agree on the terms of an extension. When I listen to my Greek colleagues talking about a bridging loan and so on – that’s a different word for an extension,” said Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
He said says another meeting was possible on February 20 but that it was “up to the Greeks”.
“My strong preference is and still is to get an extension of the program, and I think it is still feasible,” he told a press conference.
Greece’s current bailout expires on February 28. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments so time is running out to reach a compromise, without which Greece is likely to run out of money.
Before the meeting, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had already said he was not optimistic a deal would be reached: “The problem is that Greece has lived beyond its means for a long time and that nobody wants to give Greece money any more without guarantees.”
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said European leaders needed to respect the political change in Athens. As he arrived in Brussels he urged the Greeks to extend their current deal to allow time for talks.
Greece has proposed a new bailout program that involves a bridging loan to keep the country going for six months and help it repay €7 billion of maturing bonds.
The second part of the plan would see the county’s debt refinanced. Part of this might be through “GDP bonds” – bonds carrying an interest rate linked to economic growth.
Greece also wants to see a reduction in the primary surplus target – the surplus the government must generate (excluding interest payments on debt) – from 3% to 1.49% of GDP.
In Greece last week, two opinion polls indicated that 79% of Greeks supported the government’s policies, and 74% believed its negotiating strategy would succeed.
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Greece has failed to reach an agreement with eurozone officials over the country’s debt crisis, though both sides said there was still hope for a deal.
Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said seven hours of talks in Brussels had been “constructive”.
They ended without a joint statement to outline procedural steps ahead of further talks on February 16.
Greece says its bailout deal with the EU is punitive and must end. The EU has warned Greece to abide by the deal.
Greek left-wing government says the conditions of the €240 billion ($272 billion) bailout have impoverished Greece.
It was elected on a promise to end the bailout and ease the austerity measures that have accompanied it.
The government has proposed to overhaul 30% of its bailout obligations, replacing them with a 10-point plan of reforms.
However, Greece’s creditors in the EU, led by Germany, have insisted that the terms of the bailout cannot be altered.
Officials from the two sides have been locked in negotiations aimed at reaching a deal on Greece’s debt repayments that would stave off the prospect of its exit from the eurozone – a prospect viewed with fear by the markets.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup eurozone finance ministers, said after the meeting on Wednesday that there had been no discussion of detailed proposals.
“We didn’t enter into negotiations on content of the program or a program, we simply tried to work next steps over the next couple days,” he said.
“We were unable to do that.”
“We had an intense discussion, constructive, covering a lot of ground, also making progress, but not enough progress yet to come to joint conclusions,” he said.
Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis struck an upbeat note, saying hours of emergency talks in Brussels had produced “very good discussions”.
Greek officials had rejected a draft agreement from the eurozone finance ministers that proposed “extending” the current bailout deal, Reuters reported.
The current EU-IMF bailout for Greece is due to expire on February 28.
The Greek government rejects the “troika” team – the EU, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) – overseeing the bailout’s implementation.
It is asking for a “bridge agreement” that will enable it to stay afloat until it can agree a new four-year reform plan with its EU creditors.
Greece’s debt currently stands at more than €320 billion – about 174% of its economic output (GDP).
On February 11, thousands of left-wing demonstrators rallied in Athens in support of their government’s proposition.
The stakes of the talks over Greece’s debt are high because of fears that a Greek default could push it out of the euro, triggering turmoil in the EU.
The Greek Defense Minister, Panos Kammenos, previously said Greece might seek funding from Russia, China or the US if it failed to reach a new debt agreement with the eurozone.
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The Greek government is to present its first concrete proposals for an alternative debt plan at an emergency meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels.
Greece’s left-wing government wants to overhaul 30% of its bailout obligations, replacing them with a 10-point plan of reforms.
However, EU ministers have warned that Greece must abide by existing terms.
The EU-IMF bailout for the debt-laden country expires on February 28 and Greece does not want it extended.
Instead the new Athens government is asking for a “bridge agreement” that will enable it to stay afloat until it can agree a new four-year reform plan with its EU creditors.
PM Alexis Tsipras’s government won a confidence vote on Tuesday, with the support of 162 deputies in the 300-seat parliament.
The Athens stock exchange then fell by more than 3% ahead of the emergency Eurogroup meeting, during which Greece’s new leaders will unveil their controversial debt proposals.
Greece’s Syriza-led government says the conditions of the €240 billion bailout – sweeping spending cuts and public sector job losses – have impoverished Greece.
It rejects the “troika” team – the EU, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) – overseeing the bailout’s implementation.
The government’s proposal for overhauling its bailout comes in four parts, according to a finance ministry source widely quoted in Greek media.
Under the first part, Greece would co-operate on 70% of its bailout conditions but wants to scrap 30% – replacing it with 10 new reforms to be agreed with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is unclear what these would be.
The plan also includes bond swaps to reduce Greece’s debt mountain and a proposal to reduce the primary budget surplus target for this year to 1.49% of GDP, rather than the 3% demanded by its creditors.
A swift deal with the EU is unlikely. Most finance ministers, including Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble, are insisting that Greece must not renege on its bailout conditions.
The Eurogroup ministers will report to Thursday’s EU leaders’ summit but a deal is not expected before the finance ministers meet again on February 16.
Greece’s left-wing leaders struck a defiant tone on the eve of the key talks with the EU.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis did not rule out clashing with his eurozone counterparts, saying: “If you are not willing to even contemplate a rift, then you are not negotiating.”
The stakes of the talks are high because of fears that a Greek debt default could push it out of the euro, triggering turmoil in the EU.
Greece’s debt currently stands at more than €320 billion – about 174% of its economic output (GDP).
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Greece is seeking a bridge loan rather than an extension of its bailout, PM Alexis Tsipras has said.
In an address to parliament, Alexis Tsipras also promised measures to cut bureaucratic spending and said his government would stick to all its pre-election pledges.
Alexis Tsipras’s far-left Syriza party won elections last month on a promise to end austerity measures.
EU officials have rejected his efforts to renegotiate Greece’s bailout terms.
“The bailout failed,” Alexis Tsipras said told parliament on February 8.
“The new government is not justified in asking for an extension … because it cannot ask for an extension of mistakes.”
The prime minister said that Greece wanted to service its debt.
“If our peers want so too, they are invited to come to the table of dialogue so we can discuss how to make it viable,” he added.
Greece’s current program of loans ends on February 28. A final €7.2 billion is still to be negotiated, but the new government does not want to extend the program and has already begun to roll back austerity measures.
Greek debt stands at more than €320 billion, or about 174% of the country’s economic output.
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In last month’s elections Syriza fell just short of an outright majority and formed a coalition government with the centre-right Independent Greeks.
In his speech, Alexis Tsipras said the government’s “irreversible decision is to implement in full our pre-elections pledges”.
The first priority, he said, was “tackling the big wounds of the bailout, tackling the humanitarian crisis”.
That includes giving free food and electricity to those worst affected by the economic crisis, and ending an unpopular annual levy on private property.
Among other commitments outlined by the prime minister on February 8 were:
- a gradual rise in the minimum wage to €751 by 2016
- reinstatement of public sector employees “fired illegally”
- creation of a new national broadcaster.
A number of measures aimed at cutting costs or raising revenue were also announced, including:
- a new tax on large properties
- a special portfolio to oversee fight against corruption and tax evasion
- a pension fund using revenues from natural resources
- cutting ministry cars and government planes.
Alexis Tsipras also repeated demands that Germany pay reparations for World War Two and repay a loan that the Nazis forced the Bank of Greece to pay when they occupied Greece.
Greece had “a moral obligation to our people, to history, to all European peoples who fought and gave their blood against Nazism”, Alexis Tsipras said.
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Addressing his first cabinet meeting, Greece’s new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says his country will not default on its debts.
Alexis Tsipras said he would negotiate with creditors over the €240 billion ($270 billion) bailout.
“We won’t get into a mutually destructive clash but we will not continue a policy of subjection,” said the left-wing Syriza party leader.
Germany’s vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, said it was unfair of Greece to expect other states to pick up its bills.
“I cannot imagine a haircut [debt reduction],” Sigmar Gabriel said.
As Alex Tsipras made his debut cabinet speech, Greek government bond yields rose to their highest since the 2012 debt restructuring, amid investor concern that the anti-austerity coalition was gearing up for a clash with international creditors.
The Athens Stock Exchange fell by 8% in response to Alexis Tsipras’s remarks, and as it emerged that his government was putting on hold major privatization projects, including the port of Piraeus and the main power company, the Public Power Corporation of Greece.
Greece has endured tough budget cuts in return for its 2010 bailout, negotiated with the “troika” – the European Union, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB).
The country’s economy has shrunk drastically since the 2008 global financial crisis, and high unemployment has thrown many Greeks into poverty.
Vowing to defend Greek dignity, Alexis Tsipras said a renegotiation of the Greek debts would aim for a “viable, fair, mutually beneficial solution”. He did not give any details.
Alexis Tsipras promised “realistic proposals” for an economic recovery and vowed to fight corruption and tax evasion. His recovery plan, he said, was aimed at preventing deficits in the future.
The new coalition government – with the right-wing but equally anti-austerity Greek Independents – was sworn into office on January 27.
Its chief economics spokesman, Euclid Tsakalotos, has argued that it is unrealistic to expect Greece to repay its huge debt in full.
The current bailout program of loans to Greece ends on February 28. There are still 1.8 billion euros of loans that could be disbursed to Greece if it meets the conditions imposed by the troika.
Economists estimate that Greece needs to raise about 4.3 billion euros in Q1 2015 to help pay its way, with Athens possibly having to ask the IMF and eurozone countries.
Sigmar Gabriel, who is also economy minister and leads the junior partner in Angela Merkel’s coalition government, said: “Our aim must be to keep Greece in the eurozone but solidarity and fairness work both ways.”
“Citizens of other euro states have a right to see that the deals linked to their acts of solidarity are upheld,” he said.
“Every country in Europe has its own history and cannot separate itself from this through new elections.”
Sigmar Gabriel urged the Greek government to talk to its partners before going ahead with decisions such as halting the privatization of the port of Piraeus.
“Things that Greece itself won’t do cannot be shunted on to the taxpayers and employers in neighboring states,” the German Social Democrat leader said.
Greek 10-year bond yields climbed above 10%, reflecting fears that investors may not get their money back.
The yield of a bond is inverse to its price: as the price goes down, the yield grows.
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Greece’s new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has formed a new cabinet with Yanis Varoufakis as finance minister and right-winger Panos Kammenos as defense minister.
Yanis Varoufakis is an outspoken critic of the conditions imposed on Greece in return for the 2010 bailout.
He will have the tough job of leading talks with the EU over the Syriza party’s pledge to renegotiate Greece’s massive international bailout.
Panos Kammenos is a member of the anti-bailout Independent Greeks party.
It joined a coalition with Syriza, after the left-wing party narrowly failed to secure a majority in parliament in Sunday’s elections.
The EU has meanwhile warned that the new government must stick to its creditor commitments.
The government’s chief economics spokesman, Euclid Tsakalotos, has argued that it is unrealistic to expect Greece to repay its huge debt in full.
Correspondents say that the appointment of Yanis Varoufakis – who holds dual Greek and Australian nationality – is a signal that the new Syriza-led coalition will take an uncompromising stance when renegotiating Greece’s €240 billion ($270 billion) EU-IMF package.
Yanis Varoufakis insists that Greece cannot restore its finances until its debt is lessened and has described the bailout as “fiscal waterboarding”.
Before the appointment of Yanis Varoufakis, PM Alexis Tsipras said EU leaders needed now to show that they were willing to work with Syriza – and that it would be his “worst nightmare” if the eurozone collapsed because Greece fell.
The appointment of Panos Kammenos into the 11-minister cabinet is also likely to be controversial, correspondents say, because of his claims that Germany is to blame for his country’s economic woes by its insistence on budgetary belt tightening.
Other key appointments made by the prime minister include: Nikos Kotzias as foreign minister, Nikos Pappas as state minister, Nikos Voutsis as interior minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis as production and environment minister, Panos Skourletis as labor and social solidarity minister.
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Greece is to receive its next 8.3 billion euro ($11.4 billion) bailout in three installments, eurozone finance ministers have announced.
A first tranche of 6.3 billion euros will be paid at the end of April, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at a meeting of finance ministers in Athens.
Two more payments of 1 billion euros will be made in June and July, he added.
Ahead of the meeting, demonstrators were barred from parts of Athens including Syntagma Square, the focus of recent anti-austerity protests.
Greece, the current chair of the EU presidency, continues to struggle with high debt and unemployment.
Greece is to receive its next 8.3 billion euro bailout in three installments
Discussions at Tuesday and Wednesday’s meetings include Greece’s austerity programme and market reforms demanded under the terms of its international bailouts.
The latest bailout is one of the last Greece will get from the eurozone. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue to pay its installments for some months.
It comes after the Greek parliament narrowly passed a raft of reforms, mainly to open up retail sectors to competition.
The latest bailout announcement comes amid renewed optimism about Greece’s economic recovery.
Greece has wiped out its deficit, except for interest on its debt, and is forecast to exit six years of recession this year.
Athens hopes the progress will spur the Eurozone to consider debt relief in the coming months, by lowering the interest rate on its loans or extending the repayment period.
But unions and left-wing groups have called for mass protests on Tuesday.
They say people are still suffering under the austerity measures implemented under the bailout terms.
Unemployment is running at 27%, and many Greeks are still feeling the effects of tax rises and spending cuts.
It is unclear whether protesters will attempt to enter prohibited areas and try to reach Syntagma Square.
Athens has enforced protests bans in the past, including when German Chancellor Angela Merkel made high-profile visits.
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