Eurozone refuses Greek bailout extension, more talks today

July 01, 2015 01:43

Eurozone finance ministers declined to extend Greece's bailout hours before its expiry and a possible IMF default but talks will continue on Wednesday after Athens asked for a new aid plan, officials said.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras requested a two-year rescue deal with the European Union to save the crisis-hit country, just hours before the European part of its EU-IMF bailout expires at 2200 GMT.

Tsipras also requested a short extension to its current bailout programme to avoid a "technical default," with a 1.5 billion euro payment due to the International Monetary Fund imminently.

But after a conference call to discuss the last-minute proposal, EU politicians confirmed that they had not agreed to it.

"Last deadline for Greece programme extension was weekend. Due to parliamentary procedures, unable to extend program beyond today," Slovakia's Finance Minister Peter Kazimir wrote on Twitter.

Finnish Finance Minister Alex Stubb said an extension was "not possible", adding requests for a new rescue programme with the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the EU's bailout vehicle, "is always dealt with through normal procedures."

Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem told CNN: "The political circumstance and the political stance... doesn't seem to have changed -- we are still of course awaiting the referendum."

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