Greece Told to Stop Fighting Creditors' Demands as Deadline Nears

by Karl Stagno NavarraCorina Ruhe

June 11, 2015 — 3:02 PM EEST Updated on June 12, 2015 — 11:43 AM EEST

Bloomberg

Greece was told to stop fighting creditors’ demands and sign a deal that will avert a default as officials plan for a worsening of the crisis.

Diplomatic niceties evaporated in Brussels on Thursday as European Union President Donald Tusk rebuked Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for dragging his feet on a debt agreement and the International Monetary Fund’s team walked out of negotiations. Greek stocks tumbled.

At a meeting of euro-area government staffers late Thursday, Greece was given less than 24 hours to come up with firm proposals to end the impasse, two officials present said. Policy makers are now examining all scenarios if Greece refuses to compromise, including the possibility that the country could eventually leave the currency, said the officials.

“There is no more time for gambling,” Tusk told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. “The day is coming, I am afraid, that someone says the game is over.”

Greek banks fell as much as 8.1 percent and traded 7.1 percent lower at 11:30 a.m. in Athens. Greek bank stocks have lost more than 50 percent since the previous government of Antonis Samaras began to unravel in December. The Athens Stock Exchange Index, which has lost 24 percent since then, dropped as much as 4.2 percent on Friday.

Reality Check

Standing on the brink of economic ruin, a reality check awaited Greece. The trio of lenders that hold the key to the country’s fate have run out of patience with what they see as delaying tactics and mixed messages of a leader elected to end an era of austerity.

“The ball is very much in Greece’s court,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington. “There are major differences between us in most key areas. There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently.”

Greece is ready to speed up talks as its creditors have demanded and is aiming to reach an agreement in the next few days, government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis said in an e-mail on Thursday as Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis pushed back against Tusk’s criticism.

“Contrary to stubborn rumours, we never gambled,” Varoufakis said on Twitter.