Greek leader meets creditors, seeks bailout breakthrough
RAF CASERT, Associated Press
DEREK GATOPOULOS, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reinforced his diplomatic offensive on Wednesday to try to convince European creditors to pay out the bailout loans the country needs to avoid default.

The creditors have made it clear that Greece has to improve its offer of economic reforms before they release 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) the country needs to pay debts due at the end of the month.

Tsipras had a short meeting with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and another with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande that lasted into early Thursday. He planned to continue talks with Juncker on Thursday.

"We decided to intensify the effort to bridge the remaining differences and proceed — I think will proceed — to a solution," Tsipras said after the talks.

Wednesday's talks came after Juncker's European Commission had said the offers made by Greece last week were still not good enough to unlock the bailout funds.

"For this final push, the Commission is of the view that the ball is clearly now in the court of the Greek government," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said.

With the onus firmly on Greece and options increasingly limited, Standard & Poor's in New York downgraded Greece's credit rating 1 notch further into junk territory, saying it's likely the country will default on its commercial debt within a year if it can't strike a deal with its creditors.

The ratings agency said Greece has shown it is giving higher priority to its pensions and other domestic spending than making debt payments on time.

S&P lowered Greece's rating to "CCC" from "CCC+" with a "negative" outlook.

Finance ministers from the 19 nations using the euro currency will meet in Luxembourg next week with the Greek deadline for payment ever closer.

The lack of visible progress in the negotiations over the past weeks has revived fears Greece could default on its debts and drop out of the euro, a move that would create huge uncertainty for Europe and global markets.

"The goal is to keep Greece in the eurozone," Merkel said. "Where there is a will, there is a way." Yet she insisted it was up to Tsipras first and foremost to show that willingness.

Greece has three weeks left to conclude a deal with its creditors before its bailout program expires at the end of the month, when it will also have to repay about 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) to the International Monetary Fund.

"We must be quick. We must not let things drag out," Hollande said.

Tsipras insisted not only Greece was at risk.

"We must find a solution that will give Greece the opportunity to safely return to growth and a sustainable debt — on a course that will bring back security and stability not just to Greece but all of Europe."

Athens is at odds with its creditors over what reforms Greece must make in return for the bailout loans. Each side has submitted its own proposals. But talks have been deadlocked since Athens rejected the creditors' suggestions as irrational last Friday, saying they would make life harder for Greeks already reeling from five years of deep spending cuts and soaring unemployment.

European Commission vice president Vladis Dombrovskis stressed the importance of agreeing on overall targets for Greece's primary surplus — the budget excluding debt and interest payments. Athens has been arguing for lower primary surpluses than creditors demand, saying that insisting on high primary surpluses curtails the amount of funds that can be spent on the country and causes unnecessary hardship.

Minister of State Alekos Flambouraris, a close aide to Tsipras, told Alpha television that primary surplus being demanded by lenders is now 1 percent, and that Greece wants 0.75. He said Greece could settle at 0.85 and said it should be linked to further debt restructuring.

Tsipras' radical left Syriza party won elections in January on promises of repealing the harsh budget austerity measures that accompanied Greece's 240 billion euro bailout program.

With the country facing a severe cash crunch, he has agreed to make some concessions, although he insists he will not cross certain "red lines," such as imposing further pension and salary cuts.

Tsipras must also face down hardliners within his own party, many of which have called for a break in relations with creditors and for Greece to go it alone, even if it means leaving the euro.
____

Gatopoulos reported from Athens. Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-11

ah, again....... YAAAAAAAWWNNN

A quote attributed to my favourite politician

Update: Margaret Thatcher, in a TV interview for Thames TV This Week [[1]]on Feb. 5, 1976, Prime Minister Thatcher said, "...and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them."

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Margaret_Thatcher

Last week, Greece "bundled up" a €300m payment to the IMF, delaying the payment until the end of June when a total of €1.5bn is due to be paid.

Mr Tsipras has warned earlier that a failure to reach a deal on Greece's bailout by the end of June would be the beginning of the end for the eurozone.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33089665

What he means is that Greece has no money and cannot meet its obligations at the end of the month.

Who has the biggest brass balls ?

The EU will fold and release the next Euro 7 Billion. The house of cards cannot be allowed to fall at any cost.

Last week, Greece "bundled up" a €300m payment to the IMF, delaying the payment until the end of June when a total of €1.5bn is due to be paid.

Mr Tsipras has warned earlier that a failure to reach a deal on Greece's bailout by the end of June would be the beginning of the end for the eurozone.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33089665

What he means is that Greece has no money and cannot meet its obligations at the end of the month.

Who has the biggest brass balls ?

The EU will fold and release the next Euro 7 Billion. The house of cards cannot be allowed to fall at any cost.

BBC News online has a slightly different story to yours.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33099000

Can't see Greece ever paying off their debt, however they sure want to milk the system for as much money as they can. Peter and Paul come to mind.

Last week, Greece "bundled up" a €300m payment to the IMF, delaying the payment until the end of June when a total of €1.5bn is due to be paid.

Mr Tsipras has warned earlier that a failure to reach a deal on Greece's bailout by the end of June would be the beginning of the end for the eurozone.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33089665

What he means is that Greece has no money and cannot meet its obligations at the end of the month.

Who has the biggest brass balls ?

The EU will fold and release the next Euro 7 Billion. The house of cards cannot be allowed to fall at any cost.

BBC News online has a slightly different story to yours.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33099000

2 different things Bill.

The IMF want their money that they are owed by Greece.

Greece needs the Euro 7.2 Billion from the EU to pay the IMF and others.

Without an urgent cash-for-fiscal reforms deal, the leftist Syriza government will run out of cash. And that deal needs to be agreed by the end of June, when Greece's bailout deal with its eurozone creditors runs out.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32332221