Greece seeks new EU loan deal in race to avert collapse

Greece requested a new three-year rescue program from its European partners on Wednesday and rushed to complete a detailed plan of economic reforms in time to stop the country’s descent into financial chaos. With the banking system teetering on the edge of collapse, the government sought to reassure its European creditors that it would enact tax and pension reforms quickly in exchange for loans from Europe’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism. In its formal request to tap the fund, the Greek government said it would “immediately implement a set of measures as early as the beginning of next week.”

We are determined not to have a clash with Europe but to tackle head-on the establishment in our own country and to change the mindset which will take us and the eurozone down.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

Without a deal, Greece faces an almost inevitable collapse of the banking system, which would be the first step for the country to fall out of the euro. Greece’s main business and tourism associations predicted an “explosion of unemployment” if no deal is reached. In Greece, meanwhile, people were struggling with an eighth day of limits on money withdrawals and closed banks. Greeks cannot take out more than 60 euros ($67) a day from ATMs and are unable to send money abroad, including to pay bills or to stock their businesses, without special permission.

Europe Greece