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| Greek bailout deal hangs by thread as Tsipras rails at creditors | Greek bailout deal hangs by thread as Tsipras rails at creditors |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| A deal to stop Greece from going bankrupt is hanging by a thread after the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, hit out at his country’s creditors. | A deal to stop Greece from going bankrupt is hanging by a thread after the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, hit out at his country’s creditors. |
| Tsipras is in Brussels for emergency talks with Greece’s creditors, but the two sides remain far apart over a compromise plan tabled by Athens that would allow Greece to unlock desperately needed financial aid. | Tsipras is in Brussels for emergency talks with Greece’s creditors, but the two sides remain far apart over a compromise plan tabled by Athens that would allow Greece to unlock desperately needed financial aid. |
| Membership Event: Guardian Newsroom: Can Greece be saved? | Membership Event: Guardian Newsroom: Can Greece be saved? |
| Before departing for Brussels, Tsipras criticised the “strange stance” of the creditors over their response to his plan to raise nearly €8bn (£5.6bn) by taxing businesses, consumers and pensioners. “Either they don’t want an agreement or they are serving specific interests in Greece,” he told his cabinet colleagues. | Before departing for Brussels, Tsipras criticised the “strange stance” of the creditors over their response to his plan to raise nearly €8bn (£5.6bn) by taxing businesses, consumers and pensioners. “Either they don’t want an agreement or they are serving specific interests in Greece,” he told his cabinet colleagues. |
| The Greek leader was summoned to Brussels to thrash out a compromise, as it emerged that Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund thought Athens’s plan was ineffective. Lagarde was meeting senior officials at the European commission ahead of the talks with Tsipras. | The Greek leader was summoned to Brussels to thrash out a compromise, as it emerged that Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund thought Athens’s plan was ineffective. Lagarde was meeting senior officials at the European commission ahead of the talks with Tsipras. |
| Eurozone finance ministers, who are due to hold their third meeting on the Greek crisis in less than a week, could be working through the night to hammer out a compromise. | Eurozone finance ministers, who are due to hold their third meeting on the Greek crisis in less than a week, could be working through the night to hammer out a compromise. |
| European leaders, who are gathering in Brussels on Thursday for a regular summit, have instructed Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the “eurogroup” of eurozone finance ministers, to work all night if necessary. | European leaders, who are gathering in Brussels on Thursday for a regular summit, have instructed Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the “eurogroup” of eurozone finance ministers, to work all night if necessary. |
| “[The leaders’] expectation is not to negotiate: their expectation is to welcome an agreement in the eurogroup,” said a senior EU source, sticking to the script that broad outlines of a deal would be agreed on Wednesday night. | “[The leaders’] expectation is not to negotiate: their expectation is to welcome an agreement in the eurogroup,” said a senior EU source, sticking to the script that broad outlines of a deal would be agreed on Wednesday night. |
| Related: Ruining Rhodes: Greece's VAT proposal leaves islanders feeling deserted | |
| Dijsselbloem said work remained to be done, as the two sides struggle to close the gap on whether the Greeks should be more focused on increasing taxes or cutting spending. | Dijsselbloem said work remained to be done, as the two sides struggle to close the gap on whether the Greeks should be more focused on increasing taxes or cutting spending. |
| The IMF thinks the Greek plan is too reliant on tax increases, which have failed to deliver anticipated revenue streams in the past. The fund has also criticised what it sees as only half-hearted measures to reform the Greek economy by tearing down hundreds of regulatory barriers. | The IMF thinks the Greek plan is too reliant on tax increases, which have failed to deliver anticipated revenue streams in the past. The fund has also criticised what it sees as only half-hearted measures to reform the Greek economy by tearing down hundreds of regulatory barriers. |
| Greece’s creditors are also demanding faster and more sweeping reforms to the Greek pension system, according to a leaked version of the creditors’ counter-proposals covered in red ink. Tsipras, who has vowed not to cut wages and pensions, is now under pressure to bring forward plans to raise the statutory retirement age to 67 and scale back pensioner benefits further. Pensions is one of the most fraught areas for the Greek negotiators who are already under fire for offering more limited concessions. | Greece’s creditors are also demanding faster and more sweeping reforms to the Greek pension system, according to a leaked version of the creditors’ counter-proposals covered in red ink. Tsipras, who has vowed not to cut wages and pensions, is now under pressure to bring forward plans to raise the statutory retirement age to 67 and scale back pensioner benefits further. Pensions is one of the most fraught areas for the Greek negotiators who are already under fire for offering more limited concessions. |
| Tsipras told his cabinet that a rejection of the Greek plan would be unprecedented. | Tsipras told his cabinet that a rejection of the Greek plan would be unprecedented. |
| Investors’ spirits sank as Tsipras’s criticism of Greece’s creditors leaked out, prompting a fall in eurozone stock markets. Greek stocks lost 2.5% on opening, while shares in Greek banks slipped 5% after rising earlier in the week. | Investors’ spirits sank as Tsipras’s criticism of Greece’s creditors leaked out, prompting a fall in eurozone stock markets. Greek stocks lost 2.5% on opening, while shares in Greek banks slipped 5% after rising earlier in the week. |
| Related: Greek crisis: Bailout deal in doubt as Tsipras slams creditors - live updates | Related: Greek crisis: Bailout deal in doubt as Tsipras slams creditors - live updates |
| Time is running out fast, with Greece’s eurozone bailout set to expire next Tuesday, when it is also due to repay €1.6bn to the IMF. | Time is running out fast, with Greece’s eurozone bailout set to expire next Tuesday, when it is also due to repay €1.6bn to the IMF. |
| Austria’s finance minister, Hans Jörg Schelling, said a cut-and-dried solution must be found by Sunday. “If there is no real solution by Sunday this week, it is not foreseeable what the next step will be,” he told Austrian radio. | Austria’s finance minister, Hans Jörg Schelling, said a cut-and-dried solution must be found by Sunday. “If there is no real solution by Sunday this week, it is not foreseeable what the next step will be,” he told Austrian radio. |
| A former Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, who is also on his way to Brussels, said Greece was being forced to choose “between catastrophe and a very bad solution”. The opposition centre-right New Democracy party said five months of drawn-out negotiations and putting up a robust defence had been a fiasco. | A former Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, who is also on his way to Brussels, said Greece was being forced to choose “between catastrophe and a very bad solution”. The opposition centre-right New Democracy party said five months of drawn-out negotiations and putting up a robust defence had been a fiasco. |
| Criticism of Tsipras’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, is also gaining ground. Yannis Vroutsis, a former minister of labour, accused the academic-turned-politician of “getting a certificate in inaccuracy and lies”. | Criticism of Tsipras’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, is also gaining ground. Yannis Vroutsis, a former minister of labour, accused the academic-turned-politician of “getting a certificate in inaccuracy and lies”. |
| “Is there any Greek who now believes Mr Varoufakis?” he said on Wednesday morning. Varoufakis remained upbeat, telling reporters: “We are entering the final stage of the negotiation which we hope, we strive, to be the last.” | “Is there any Greek who now believes Mr Varoufakis?” he said on Wednesday morning. Varoufakis remained upbeat, telling reporters: “We are entering the final stage of the negotiation which we hope, we strive, to be the last.” |
| The Greek economy is being kept afloat by emergency funds from the European Central Bank, although no further cash injections were made on Wednesday as Greek banks remained calm. | The Greek economy is being kept afloat by emergency funds from the European Central Bank, although no further cash injections were made on Wednesday as Greek banks remained calm. |