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Greece Requests Euro Zone Loan Extension,

Despite German Objection

February 18, 2015  

Greek Presidential guards perform during a change of shift at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens February 18, 2015	Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

 

Greece to table loan extension request: gov't spokesman

ATHENS, Feb. 18, 2015 (Xinhua) --

 Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will request a six-month extension of the bailout loan agreement on Wednesday, Greek government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis said in a statement to a local television channel.

"The government does not want to create impasses but to find a solution ... The failure of the bailout program has been proved," Sakellaridis said, referring to the distinction Athens made between the wider framework of the loan agreements signed with international creditors since 2010 and the precise measures of the bailout program which expire in late February.

By submitting a request, which will be based on a document EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici presented to Varoufakis on Monday, the new Greek government seeks a way out of the deadlock of the past week in talks with euro zone creditors regarding the post-bailout collaboration, according to Sakellaridis.

Euro zone partners asked Athens to stick to the painful austerity and reform drive launched five years ago in return for rescue loans to avoid default and exit from the European common currency zone.

The newly elected Left-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras rejected the bailout program as catastrophic for the Greek economy and society, and pushed for a bridging deal to the autumn so that the two sides could seek ways to make the Greek sovereign debt load viable and resolve the crisis.

Asked whether Athens has an alternative plan in case the extension request is rejected and the upcoming Friday's deadline set by euro group expires with no deal, Sakellaridis said that the government "hopes it won't reach that point and is working on this scenario."

Editor: Shen Qing

 

Eurogroup, Greece fail to agree on bailout program

BRUSSELS, Feb. 16, 2015 (Xinhua) --

Eurozone finance ministers were unable to reach a final agreement with Greek government on the bailout program on Monday, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at a press conference.

The Eurogroup meeting ended one hour earlier after the Greek authorities rejected the draft statement constructed by the Eurogroup in a bid to agree on a new debt deal as Greece's debt deadline approaching.

"The Greek authorities expressed their intention to request a six months technical extention of the current program as an intermediate step. This would bridge the time for the Greek authorities and the Eurogroup to work on a follow-up arrangement," the leaked draft statement seen by Xinhua said.

Greece's current bailout expires at the end of the month, and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government has refused to extend it on current terms.

"The Eurogroup is favourably disposed to such a request by the Greek authorities," the statement which the Greek authorities rejected said.

The Eurogroup agreed that the best way forward is for Greece to seek an extension of the bailout.

Dijsselbloem said: "we simply need more time. The best way to do that is to extend the current program."

At the press conference, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund said: "If Greece requests a bailout extension, and commits to implementing its current program, then we can continue to work together."

The European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici explained the talks as "constructive, but not concluding," adding that "Greece will have to submit a program extension request. We will continue the dialogue this week, but it is up to Greece to take the necessary steps."

After the Eurogroup meeting last Thursday, Eurozone finance ministers and Greece agreed to ask the troika (the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF) to seek common ground to faciliate further discussion on Feb. 16.

 

Greece to submit loan request to euro zone, Germany resists

By George Georgiopoulos and John O'Donnell

ATHENS/FRANKFURT

Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:32am EST

(Reuters) -

Greece will submit a request to the euro zone on Wednesday to extend a "loan agreement" for up to six months but EU paymaster Germany says no such deal is on offer and Athens must stick to the terms of its existing international bailout.

The move, confirmed by an official spokesman, is an attempt by the new leftist-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to keep a financial lifeline for an interim period while sidestepping tough austerity conditions in the EU/IMF program.

An EU source said whether finance ministers of the 19-nation currency bloc, who rejected such ideas at a meeting on Monday, accepted the request as a basis to resume negotiations would depend on how it was formulated. A spokesman for the Eurogroup said no request had been received so far.

Hardline German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble poured scorn on the Greek gambit, telling broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday evening: "It's not about extending a credit program but about whether this bailout program will be fulfilled, yes or no."

However, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the Social Democratic junior partners in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, welcomed what he called the signal from the Greek government that it was ready to negotiate.

With Greece's agreement with the euro zone due to expire on Feb. 28, Tsipras said talks were at a crucial stage and his demands for an end to austerity were winning wide support.

"There were protests across Europe supporting the moves made by Greece and we have managed for the first time through contacts with foreign leaders to create a positive stance on our requests," he said at a televised meeting with President Karolos Papoulias.

EU officials said intensive formal and informal consultations were under way between Athens, the Eurogroup and the European Commission, with Italy and France also involved in the search for a compromise.

Germany and other euro zone countries were standing firm on their insistence that there can be no roll-back of reforms already implemented under the bailout and that Greece will have to repay all it has borrowed, they said.

Greek bond yields fell sharply and shares rallied after government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis confirmed Athens would send a formal application on Wednesday.

"Let's wait today for the request for an extension of the loan agreement to be submitted by Finance Minister (Yanis) Varoufakis," he told Antenna TV, adding: "We will not back down on certain points that we consider red lines. The (bailout) memorandum died on Jan. 25."

That was the day Greek voters elected a government led by Tsipras's hard left Syriza party, which had promised to scrap the 240 billion euro bailout, reverse austerity measures and end cooperation with the hated "troika" of inspectors from the Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted by a German magazine as saying he was collaborating with the head of the Eurogroup to find a solution.

"I am working together with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem to achieve an extension of the existing program, in order to bridge the time until summer," he told WirtschaftsWoche in an interview published on Wednesday.

ECB REVIEWS LENDING

The ECB's governing council will meet later on Wednesday (10:00 a.m. EST) in Frankfurt to decide whether to continue and possibly increase emergency lending assistance to Greece's banks, plagued by deposit withdrawals.

The ECB is not expected to pull the plug this week but Germany's Bundesbank is leading opposition to any increase in the funding by the Greek central bank, people familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Without added liquidity, the banks face a tightening squeeze as savers withdraw money that could force Greece to introduce capital controls if there is no deal.

A source close to the Greek government said the loan request would be based on a text drawn up earlier this week by EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, which was discarded by euro zone finance ministers when they met on Monday.

The Moscovici draft would also have committed Greece not to take unilateral steps to reverse measures implemented under the bailout, but Tsipras told Syriza lawmakers on Tuesday he would hasten legislation to scrap labor market deregulation.

With several euro zone countries needing parliamentary ratification of any change or extension, time is running short.

Dijsselbloem has said Greece must request an extension of the existing bailout by the weekend or the program will expire at the end of this month. Greece could then run out of money within weeks since it has to make hefty repayments to the IMF in March.

As the deadline approaches, several European leaders called Tsipras to seek a solution, including Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, French President Francois Hollande and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, as well as Juncker.

(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou and Deepa Babington in Athens, Jan Strupczewski in Brussels, Caroline Copley in Berlin and Paul Carrel in Frankfurt; Writing by Paul Taylor and David Stamp; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Paul Taylor)

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