EUROZONE-GREECE/SUMMIT END Euro zone gives Greece until Sunday for debt deal

Record ID: 148135

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/SUMMIT END Euro zone gives Greece until Sunday for debt deal
  • Date: 7th July 2015
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JULY 7, 2015) (REUTERS) FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, ARRIVING FOR NEWS BRIEFING HOLLANDE DURING BRIEFING
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4QGLVGI1YVCX0OLC6SQRBFHL4
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Euro zone members gave Greece on Tuesday (July 7) until the end of the week to come up with a proposal for sweeping reforms in return for loans that will keep the country from crashing out of Europe's currency bloc and into economic ruin.
    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has until Friday to present the proposal, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped to have convincing reform commitments from Tsipras on Thursday so she could ask the German parliament to authorise negotiations on a new aid programme.
    At an emergency summit in Brussels, representatives of the 19-country euro zone said all 28 European Union leaders would meet on Sunday to decide Greece's fate. The talks were organised after Greeks voted in a referendum on Sunday against a bailout that carried stringent austerity measures.
    Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Greece was committed to present a new programme.
    "This programme, and it can't be otherwise, will be subject to conditions and from then, if the three institutions accept it, it will go to the Eurogroup and to the heads of state next Sunday," he told reporters as he left the meeting.
    French President Francois Hollande said the European Central Bank would ensure that Greek banks had the minimum necessary liquidity to stay afloat until Sunday.
    The situation in Greece worsened with banks closed for a second week, limited cash withdrawals and businesses feeling the crunch of demands from vendors for cash payments.
    Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the issue at stake affected the future foundations of the European Union.
    "The real problem is which kind of Europe we are building. Is it a Europe of growth, wealth, culture or should it be a Europe of bureaucratic regulations? This is the real argument in the discussions," Renzi said.
    Under a timetable agreed by the 19 leaders of the common currency area, Greece will submit on Wednesday a formal request for a two-year loan programme, with a first list of reform commitments to be spelled out in greater detail on Thursday.
    If the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank approve, Eurogroup finance ministers will meet on Saturday to recommend opening negotiations on a conditional assistance programme.
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