Tsipras slams ‘trick’ proposals

‘Unrealistic’ and ‘devastating’ for Greeks

ATHENS • Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras asked Greece’s international creditors to withdraw their conditions for giving more money in a defiant address to parliament.

“The proposals from the creditors are clearly unrealistic,” Tsipras told lawmakers in Athens late Friday. “The Greek government cannot consent to unreasonable proposals that call for devastating measures for pensioners and Greek families. I want to believe that it was a bad negotiating trick.”

The embattled Greek leader went on the attack after telling German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande on Thursday that a list of proposals set by creditors to unlock bailout funds can’t be the basis for a deal.

The latest proposal was an “unpleasant surprise,” Tsipras said, adding that voters are asking the government “not to succumb to the irrational, blackmailing demands of our creditors.”

Greece notified the International Monetary Fund on Thursday that a 300-millioneuro ($414-million) payment due Friday would be deferred and bundled with three more payments at the end of June. The move was a 180-degree turn by the government and caught many by surprise.

“The surprise move shows that the troika can’t dictate the terms of an agreement,” Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said in a statement, referring to the group of lenders including the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank.

Tsipras said the IMF’s consent to the bundling means “it’s finally clear to everyone, and mostly understood by the markets themselves, no one wants a rift. And time now is running out not just for Greece, but for everyone.”

The IMF delay wasn’t related to a lack of funds, as Greece had enough cash reserves to make the payment due Friday, said a person familiar with the country’s financing position.

The IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank have “put on the table something which is very reasonable,” IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard said earlier Friday in New York.

Even with the comments about the creditors’ plan, Tsipras said Greece is “closer to a deal than ever before” and that any agreement must end discussion about the nation leaving the euro.

As the stalemate drags on, the odds of Greece exiting the common currency have risen to about 20 per cent from between 10 per cent and 15 per cent previously, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC estimates. “Elections now appear very likely,” RBS strategists wrote in a note to clients Friday. “Either PM Tsipras will opt to force the measures through (likely triggering a collapse in his parliamentary majority) or go to new elections.”