ATHENS: The latest round of talks between the Greek government and EU officials in Brussels has failed to reach an agreement with Germany warning that time is running out.
A European Commission spokesman said that progress was made on Sunday, but “significant gaps” remained. The European Union, which holds the vast majority of Greek debt, wants Athens to make spending cuts worth 2bn to secure further bailout funds, but Greece has called such demands unreasonable.
Greek deputy prime minister Yannis Dragasakis said that Athens was still ready to negotiate with its lenders and that Greek government proposals submitted on Sunday had fully covered the fiscal deficit as demanded. Dragasakis added that the EU and IMF were still pressuring Greece to cut pensions – which was something Athens has said it would never accept.
Greece is seeking to avoid defaulting on a 1.5bn debt repayment to the IMF due by the end of the month, but in order to secure further bailout funds from creditors, primarily the European Union, it must make further spending cuts.
