Greece has one day left to clinch a eurozone bailout and a bond swap with creditors to manage its crushing debt repayments, the finance minister said Saturday, warning that talks were “on a knife edge.”
“The moment is very critical,” Evangelos Venizelos told reporters, after a telephone conference with fellow eurozone finance ministers, which he described as “very difficult.”.
“Everything must be concluded by tomorrow night… so that we can be within the timetable given the bond maturities in March,” the minister said.
“We are on a knife edge.”
Athens has been negotiating with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank on further action needed to unlock a new rescue deal worth 130 billion euros ($171 billion). Pressure is also mounting for a deal with private lenders to wipe out part of the 350-billion-euro Greek debt, with Athens facing imminent loan repayments of 14.4 billion euros ($19 billion) on March 20.
Venizelos said two major points of contention with the EU and IMF remained open — controversial labour cost cuts, and new fiscal measures to address slippage to deficit targets owing to a greater-than-forecast recession.
He said the time had come for the coalition of socialist, conservative and far-right parties backing the Greek interim government to make “a decision and a commitment” to pave the way for an agreement.
(source: AFP)
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