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Eurozone meeting on Greek crisis has ended without agreement

Finance ministers from the 19 Eurozone countries met in  Brussels for another crisis summit ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

15.29 24 Jun 2015


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Eurozone meeting on Greek cris...

Eurozone meeting on Greek crisis has ended without agreement

Newstalk
Newstalk

15.29 24 Jun 2015


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Finance ministers from the 19 Eurozone countries met in  Brussels for another crisis summit which ended without agreement.

The Finance Minister of Finland has taken to twitter to announce the negotiations will resume tomorrow at lunchtime. 

Greece rejected the latest proposals from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on securing an urgent lackage of bailout loans.

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The move comes after the Troika rejected parts of the Greek plan, which are aimed at accessing €7bn in loans.

But European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva says it is a good sign that Greece and the Troika are still talking.

Stock markets are falling across the Eurozone amid signs that a new funding agreement is in trouble.

The IMF is cautious about the mix of reforms Greece has proposed, saying they rely too heavily on tax increases that can hurt the economy.

It wants more spending cuts because of the possible effect of tax rises on businesses.

Greece's prime minister, who is in Brussels, criticised the international lender's position but conceded further negotiations were needed before any agreement is reached.

"The repeated rejection of equivalent measures by certain institutions never occurred before-neither in Ireland nor Portugal. This odd stance seems to indicate that either there is no interest in an agreement or that special interests are being backed," Alexis Tsipras wrote on his official Twitter account.

The new proposals put forward by Athens aim to raise €8bn, mostly through new taxes on the wealthy and businesses, early retirement restrictions, VAT increases and a cut in defence spending.

Stocks tumble amid fears

The IMF's negative reaction to the Greek proposals sent the Athens stock exchange down 3.1%, while the Stoxx 50 of top European shares fell 0.7%.

Mr Tsipras is meeting the heads of key creditor institutions, including the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission, for talks that were meant to smooth over differences on the reforms that Greece has proposed to creditors.

The reforms proposed are in exchange for rescue loans that Greece needs to avoid default on a debt payment due at the end of this month. If it fails to reach agreement with its creditors the country faces a future outside of the Eurozone.

Assuming an eleventh-hour deal is thrashed out with the EU and IMF, Mr Tspiras still needs to convince his anti-austerity Syriza party to approve concessions needed to unblock the desperately needed bailout funds.

He only has a slim majority within the Greek parliament and opposition within his own party to proposed concessions means ratification in Greece is by no means assured.

Greek Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis said he was still optimistic that a deal could be done.

"The details are what's left - a small gap," he told Mega Television. "It'll be over today."


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