Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed in a phone conversation on Sunday to maintain contact during talks between Athens and its lenders to reach a debt deal, a Greek government official said.
Tags: Angela Merkel
Euro zone sets emergency summit on Greece as money flees
Euro zone leaders will hold an emergency summit on Monday to try to avert a Greek default after bank withdrawals accelerated and government revenue slumped as Athens and its international creditors remain deadlocked over a debt deal.
Tsipras seeks debt relief as Greeks take offer to Brussels
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he was willing to accept unpalatable compromises to secure a deal with international creditors provided he gets debt relief in return, something that Germany refuses to countenance.
Merkel urges Germans to put aside fear of big data
Germans need to overcome their traditional fear of the large-scale collection of personal data by companies and instead embrace its opportunities or risk being marginalized in the global economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.
EU's Oettinger says Greece deal still possible this week
Germany's EU Commissioner Guenter Oettinger said on Monday it might still be possible for Greece and its creditors to reach a deal this week.
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Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said on Friday he respects Germany just not German politics, nor the way Berlin views Greece's economy, which faces the prospect of running out of money if it cannot agree to new bailout terms with creditors.
Greece offered some concessions on Friday on reforms demanded by international lenders in return for new funding before Athens runs out of money, but euro zone creditors said negotiations needed to speed up to get a deal by June.
The euro hit a two-week high against a soft dollar on Friday, supported by a rise in a key German business sentiment survey and hopes that cash-strapped Greece was making tentative progress toward securing fresh funding.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for a speeding up of the process to conclude a reform-for-cash deal with euro zone creditors after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, a Greek official said.
Greece is in talks with its international creditors -- euro zone governments and the International Monetary Fund -- on a package of reforms that would help unlock more funding to prevent the cash-strapped country defaulting.
Greece can scrape together enough cash to meet its payment obligations until June, euro zone and Greek officials said on Wednesday, playing down fears of an imminent default as hopes receded of a deal with its creditors to release fresh aid.
Euro zone finance ministers will not set any deadline for Greece to come up with reforms to get more funding because such time limits lead to brinkmanship in negotiations, a senior euro zone official said on Tuesday.
Greece will repay a loan tranche to the IMF on time on April 9, its deputy finance minister said on Friday, seeking to quell fears of default after a flurry of contradictory statements on the issue in recent days.
Greece is optimistic about reaching a deal on economic reforms with its euro zone peers early next week, unblocking urgently needed funding, its economy minister said on Thursday.
