Greece and creditors ‘even further apart’ as hopes of eurozone solution fade

Germany’s finance minister has expressed pessimism that a deal can be struck between Greece and its international creditors over the country’s debt crisis. Wolfgang Schaeuble said the two sides were “even further apart” as talks took place in Brussels between the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB). The creditors have presented Athens with new proposals over the economic reforms it wants made in an attempt to find a breakthrough over its bailout. But Greece was still not on board, raising fresh doubts about whether it was possible to clinch a deal before the end of June.

We are prepared to work all night, but we had nothing real to work with. The loss of trust is becoming extreme… It is hard to see how we can go on.

One eurozone official told Reuters.

Greece badly needs €7.2bn from the creditors to keep its economy going and to help with a €1.6bn payment it has to make to the IMF by next Tuesday. According to Greek officials at the talks, creditors were seeking a different mix of austerity measures than those proposed by Athens, making the cuts more immediate. They included broad pension cuts, higher revenue from sales tax, and a faster elimination of tax exemptions - demands that are likely to fuel dissent within the government if accepted. Nineteen eurozone ministers also returned to the negotiating table in Brussels on Thursday in an attempt to finalise a deal and avoid a default by Athens.

It is a negotiation between the institutions and the Greek government. We have not been able to throw anything back at anyone because there’s nothing on the table.

Finnish finance minister Alexander Stubb.

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