EUROZONE-GREECE/CHIEF NEGOTIATOR Greek negotiators says finance agreement "close"

Record ID: 151769

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/CHIEF NEGOTIATOR Greek negotiators says finance agreement "close"
  • Date: 19th June 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JUNE 19, 2015) (REUTERS) REPRESENTATIVES AT THE SUMMIT OF PRESIDENTS OF THE EUROPEAN LEFT PARTIES INCLUDING ALTERNATE ECONOMIC AFFAIRS MINISTER AND MEMBER OF GREECE'S NEGOTIATING TEAM, EUCLID TSAKALOTOS, (FAR LEFT BY THE WINDOW) TSAKALOTOS TALKING TO SOMEONE TSAKALOTOS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALTERNATE ECONOMIC AFFAIRS MINISTER AND MEMBER OF GREECE'S
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVASJ70JNLSPU7XLFQ5ZKPQV1BC
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The chief Greek negotiators in talks with international creditors said in Athens on Friday (June 19) an agreement was within reach.
    Euclid Tsakalotos, attending a meeting of European left parties, spoke the day after eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg said they could not bridge their differences and that the aid-for-reform deal had to be referred to the highest political level on Monday.
    "The two sides are close to an agreement and that we should continue all efforts to reduce the final gaps," he said.
    Eurozone leaders will hold last-ditch talks on Monday afternoon, after a second meeting of the finance ministers. The European Central Bank (ECB) raised the ceiling on emergency liquidity Greek banks can draw from the country's central bank on Friday for the second time this week.
    It will also review its limits on emergency funding (ELA) for Greek banks again on Monday.
    The ECB's Emergency Liquidity Assistance to Greek banks is the only thing that keeps the Greek banking sector alive amid huge daily outflows of deposits. Savers pull out cash fearing a failure of the negotiations that could end in Greece leaving the euro.
    The new review time for the amount of funding available to Greek banks via the ELA on Monday is timed to put more pressure on the left-wing government.
    "On monday we have the top summit and obviously we are working very hard for a very good result there," Tsakalotos said.
    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in St Petersburg during his meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin that Greece's debt crisis was a problem for all of Europe, and the European Union faced a choice between showing solidarity with Greece or sticking to austerity policies that lead nowhere.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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