ATHENS: Greece’s finance minister has said he expects an agreement with bail-out creditors within the next week, which would save the country from fast-approaching bankruptcy.
“I think we are very close,” Yanis Varoufakis said. “Let’s say (it’s a matter) of about a week.” For almost four months, Greece’s radical left-led government has been haggling with its creditors from the 19-nation eurozone and International Monetary Fund over economic reforms it must make to secure a 7.2 billion euro (£5.2bn) cash injection.
That is the final payment due from the country’s 240 billion-euro (£173bn) bail-out programme, launched five years ago after its public finances spiralled out of control and it was locked out of international bond markets.