Greece to present no new proposal to Eurogroup: Varoufakis
The Greek finance minister says the debt-ridden country will present no new proposal to its international creditors at an upcoming Eurogroup meeting as the deadline to reach a deal on Athens’ bailout program draws near.
“The Eurogroup is not the right place to present proposals which haven’t been discussed and negotiated on a lower level before,” Yanis Varoufakis told the German newspaper Bild on Tuesday.
Greece and its lenders have for months been in talks to reach a deal over the country’s debt. Eurozone’s finance ministers are scheduled to meet in Luxembourg on June 18 in a last-ditch attempt to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt.
However, Varoufakis said that his country’s negotiating team is “available at any time” to find a comprehensive solution with its partners “on condition that their representatives come to the table with a firm and clear mandate.”
Earlier on Sunday, Greece and its creditors - the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission – failed to hammer out a last-minute deal in the Belgian capital Brussels.
Varoufakis said the talks in Brussels collapsed because “the representatives of the creditors told us that they didn’t have a mandate to hold in-depth negotiations over our proposals and measures to resolve the debt crisis.”
“That’s the reason why there was no outcome,” Varoufakis said.
An unnamed European Commission spokesman said Monday that Greece’s proposal still remains incomplete as it falls short of presenting the required reforms to release the 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in rescue funds still remaining in the country’s bailout, which is set to expire on June 30.
Greece’s government has slammed as “irrational” a proposal on reform by Athens’ international lenders, blaming the stalemate on reaching an agreement on what is referred to as the IMF’s “intransigent and tough” stance on the subject.
YH/MKA/HMV
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