European finance chiefs said they were unlikely to strike a deal on the outlines of a third Greek bailout, threatening to delay the cash infusion Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras desperately needs.
While a hardline group led by Germany resisted another rescue, the worst-case outcome was off the table for now. A Sunday meeting of the 28 European Union leaders was canceled; most of the procedures to push Greece out of the euro require their unanimity. A summit of the 19 euro-area leaders was still on, meaning they’ll decide whether to start negotiations on aid.
“If this was a negotiation from one to 10, I think we’re still standing somewhere between three and four,” Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, who has opposed a bailout, said before the Sunday talks. “We’re very far away” from a deal.
The gathering of finance chiefs in Brussels deadlocked over Greece’s growing debt and the credibility of reforms that some said rely too heavily on taxes. Creditors concerned that Greece can’t be trusted want lawmakers in Athens to pass tax increases and spending cuts into law before negotiations on a bailout package begins.
“If the Greek government commits to implement and vote now — without delay — strong reforms in the short term, there is the basis of negotiations,” EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.
Source: Bloomberg
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