Greece in last ditch for EU talks to break debt deadlock

BRUSSELS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday for make-or-break bailout talks with a deadline looming for Athens to make a critical repayment.
Greece and its international creditors are at a critical phase in talks to reach a deal to unlock 7.2 billion euros ($8.0 billion) to help Athens make Friday´s 300 million euro repayment to the IMF.
But months of fractious talks have been stalled over creditors´ insistence that Athens undertake greater reforms which Greece´s anti-austerity government has refused to match.
Without a deal by the end of this week, fears are growing that Greece could default, possibly setting off a chain reaction that could end with a messy exit from the eurozone and cause havoc to the economy in Europe and the world.
The fate of Greece will be central to the European Central Bank monthly policy meeting also on Wednesday in Frankfurt, with analysts listening out for what president and key player Mario Draghi has to say about the Greek situation.
“We suspect that Draghi and colleagues will maintain a hard line on Greece,” said Capital Economics economist Jonathan Loynes.
Aides to Tsipras said the young premier was coming to Brussels to present Juncker his government´s 46-page proposal to overhaul the Greek economy and meet the demands of its bailout.
European sources confirmed the meeting, which would take place later in the evening in Brussels and could reportedly also include Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup.
Greece´s creditors, the EU, IMF and ECB, are widely understood to have their own plan to lay on the table, one that includes measures the Greek government has repeatedly refused over the past four months of fruitless negotiations.