ATHENS: Greece will not come to an agreement with creditors before June 30 when the bailout extension expires, European Union officials in Brussels predict.
According to sources in Brussels, a default does not necessarily mean that Greece will be led out of the euro zone. It will lead to political developments, though. Greece has lost two months out of the four-month bailout extension and is not close to the review that will unlock the release of the last bailout tranche. Meanwhile, state coffers are emptying at an alarming rate.
At the moment, creditors say that Athens must cut 2 to 3 billion euros from state spending and be more specific on revenue sources. Creditors do not accept potential revenues from television channel licensing or from taxing undeclared deposits in foreign banks as measures to be included in the 2015 budget for the simple reason that they are not guaranteed revenues and they are for one time only.
