Headlines
Greece declines to pay IMF loan instalment on Tuesday
Athens, June 30
Greece will not repay the loan
instalment due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday,
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said even as the country mulled
taking legal actions to block its exit from the eurozone.
However, Varoufakis expressed hope that a debt deal can be reached with international creditors, Xinhua news agency reported.
The
Greek minister made the statement outside the finance ministry in
Athens when asked by media about the issue with the critical deadline
expiring on Tuesday afternoon.
He categorically said "No." His comments came ahead of the July 5 referendum called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Greece's
failure to meet its financial obligations to the IMF for a second time
in a month and pay off 1.5 billion euros ($1.7) in loan instalment could
launch formal procedures for default in coming weeks.
Varoufakis
made remarks amid media reports that in the past few hours Greece's
dialogue with international creditors has resumed to achieve a
last-minute debt deal and avert a financial collapse and possible exit
from eurozone.
According to an earlier report, Athens is said to
have received a message from European Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker on Monday night to accept the creditors' draft.
The
Leftist Greece government is believed to have rejected once again the
lenders' draft as a basis for further discussion, but was preparing a
new agreement proposal to submit to the other side before calling for a
Eurogroup meeting as early as Tuesday evening, television channel Mega
reported, citing sources.
According to other media reports, Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras was under pressure by a group of his close
aides, ruling party radical left SYRIZA lawmakers and ministers,
including Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragassakis, into seizing the
opportunity for last-minute negotiations.
According to the
reports, the government's General Secretary Spyros Sagias has threatened
to reign, while the country's economy minister has expressed strong
doubts over the referendum idea that triggered a series of developments
over the past weekend after Tsipras's announcement on Saturday.
With banks closed and capital controls imposed since Monday, the clock was ticking against Greece and the eurozone.
Scenarios
circulated in Athens suggested that Greece was already on way to the
return to its own currency drachma. Haris Theocharis, a former general
secretary at the ministry of finance and current member of parliament
with the centrist River (Potami) party, claimed that the government was
making preparations for the transition.
The prime minister's office dismissed the suggestion as an "irresponsible science fiction scenario".
Varoufakis
told Britain's Dily Telegraph that Greece was analysing possibly taking
legal action against the European institutions to block its exit from
the eurozone, Efe news agency reported.
"The Greek government will make use of all our legal rights," Varoufakis told the British daily on Tuesday,
Greece,
according to the newspaper, has threatened to file a court order not
only to block the expulsion from the shared currency, but also to avoid
stifling the country's banking system.
"We are taking advice and
will certainly consider an injunction at the European Court of Justice.
The EU treaties make no provision for euro exit and we refuse to accept
it. Our membership is not negotiable," the minister argued.
Varoufakis
said Greece has sufficient liquidity to carry it until the referendum,
but acknowledged that the capital controls introduced by creditor
institutions over the weekend are causing problems for companies.
In
accordance with these measures, banks will remain closed until July 6
and a daily cap for cash withdrawal stands at 60 euros ($66.70), Efe
newsd agency reported.
The failed negotiations in Brussels have made a Greek exit from the euro more possible than ever.