Pressure mounts as Greece talks resume

Edited by URGENT talks between Athens and its international creditors resumed yesterday as they attempted to thrash out an eleventh hour deal.

Greek government officials have been told to submit a finallist of reforms to secure £5.2bn of desperately needed rescue aid.

In the latest bid to break the deadlock, Europe has stepped up pressure on Athens to offer major concessions on austerity and reform. Eurozone officials want to reach a deal on a full list of economic reforms early this week so it can be presented at a monthly meeting of finance ministers on Thursday.

Last night one expert described it as ‘crunch time’ and said it was crucial for an agreement to be reached this week.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, from the hard-Left Syriza party, has exasperated international lenders by refusing to bow to demands to cut pensions and other forms of social spending.

Greece must repay £1.2bn to the International Monetary Fund by the end of this month or default on its loans. It missed a £216m repayment on June 5 and promised to bundle the four payments due in June together at the end of the month.

It has to make further payments of £2.6bn to the European Central Bank in July and £2.5bn in August.

Vicky Pryce, chief eco- nomic adviser at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said: ‘This really is crunch time. If Greece is to receive any financial help to repay the IMF and then the ECB loans it needs an agreement now.’

She added: ‘For the Greek economy, this uncertainty has been disastrous.

‘ While other eurozone countries have been recovering, Greece has fallen back into recession.’

Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s vice- chancellor and head of the Social Democrats, warned that patience is running thin.

Writing in German newspaper Bild, he said: ‘We want to help Greece and also keep them in the euro. But not only is time running out but so too is patience across Europe.

‘Everywhere in Europe, the sentiment is growing that enough is enough.’

European financial markets were hit on Friday when the IMF broke off talks with Greece, raising fears that it could default on its debts and leave the eurozone. The IMF said there had been ‘no progress’ between the two sides.

The Washington- based IMF is part of the so-called ‘troika’ of creditors which also includes the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

They have insisted that Greece make sweeping reforms and swingeing cuts to public spending in return for its £174billion bailout.

Tsipras wants a significant easing of Greece’s huge debt burden, including more time to pay back its loans and lower interest rates.