Business
Sunday June 21, 2015
Amid demonstrations in Athens
Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras.
Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, this weekend multiplied contacts with European leaders before the expected summit on Monday , which will seek to avoid a Greek ‘default’ would have unforeseeable consequences.
Tsipras met Sunday by telephone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel , French President François Hollande , and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker , to expose the proposals of his country towards “a mutually beneficial agreement.”
This Sunday, more than 7,000 people, according to police, were concentrated in the center of Athens to protest against the austerity policy, on the eve of this key summit for the Hellenic country.
The protesters were visited by different personalities Syriza party in power, as parliament speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou , or the Minister of Energy, Panagiotis Lafazanis , in a square in which hoisted banners with inscriptions reading “if we do not stop (creditors) they will never stop”, “no to the Euro”, or “can not sing . people, the country is not for sale “
On Monday, before the summit, Tsipras will hold a meeting in person with representatives of the creditors: Juncker, President of the European Council Donald Tusk The IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde, the ECB president, Mario Draghi, and the head of the finance ministers of the eurozone, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, according to a Greek government source.
Currently there leaked anything about the content of the proposals made by Tsipras, who wants “a definitive and not provisional solution”.
From Milan, the Italian head of state, Matteo Renzi , he was however optimistic and said that “they are gathered” all the conditions for a “beneficial to all parties” agreement.
Hollande, visiting Milan, said for his part that is doing “everything for the agreement to be comprehensive and lasting”.
Time is pressing than ever. Greece must repay the IMF on June 30, more than 1,500 million euros, but may do so if it receives 7,200 million for the last tranche of financial assistance from its creditors before.
The possibility of a Greek exit from the eurozone is not a taboo, and on Saturday, the secretary of the US Treasury, Jacob Lew , warned it can not “know exactly the reaction of the markets and your mood if Greece fails “.
The uncertainty is such that cash withdrawals from Greek banks have accelerated, and this week took between 4,000 and 6,000 million euros, according to local press.
To address the situation of Greek banks and probably increase again emergency funds made available, the governors of the ECB maintained the exceptional Monday morning teleconference.
Before leaving Brussels this Sunday, Tsipras Athens chaired a cabinet meeting to prepare the strategy against creditors, who previously rejected the Greek proposals in a series of fruitless negotiations.
Greece stands firm on some conditions, said Minister of State, Nikos Pappas , in the daily Ethnos on Sunday: “Resetting the labor law, any lowering of wages or pensions, comprehensive strategic plan on the debt problem. ”
On Saturday, another minister, Alekos Flambouraris , suggested that the government would be ready to accelerate the elimination of early retirement and lower the tax threshold for corporate profits.
yes Flambouraris recalled two “essential” conditions “budgetary flexibility” and restructuring of the public debt exceeding 170% of Greek GDP.
If the assistance program extends Pappas denied that the IMF continue to assist Greece with the EU and the ECB, because of the “unilateral European agenda and for nothing” of the institution Washington.
In an article in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis , appealed to German Chancellor to act responsibly and not “jettison the only Greek government is true to its principles and can guide the Greek people on the path of reform “
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