Headlines
Greece reveals new debt deal, pensioners line up at banks
Athens/Berlin, July 1
The Greek government on
Wednesday revealed its latest proposal for a debt deal with creditors to
stave off a default and Grexit -- exit from the eurozone -- in the
coming weeks even as thousands of pensioners lined up outside 1,000 bank
branches opened to disperse pension payments.
The government
dismissed media reports claiming that it fully accepted lenders' offer
ahead of a crucial Eurogroup teleconference rescheduled for Wednesday
evening, Xinhua news agency reported.
Athens' draft deal, which
was submitted as Greece was declared in arrears to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday midnight. It sought a new two-year loan
to deal with financing problems through the European Stability Mechanism
(ESM), and requested a further restructuring of Greek debt.
"The
Greek government has tabled a new proposal with a series of amendments
to the institutions in a bid to achieve a mutually beneficial
agreement," a statement issued to the media said.
"Reports that Greece has accepted all the terms of the creditors' proposal are unfounded," it was stressed.
Athens
released the letter Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressed to
European partners and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
"The
Hellenic Republic is prepared to accept this staff level agreement (as
published on the European Commission website on June 28, 2015) subject
to the following amendments, additions or clarifications, as part of an
extension of the expiring EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility)
programme and the new ESM loan agreement for which a request was
submitted on June 30, 2015," Tsipras wrote.
"As you will note,
our amendments are concrete and they fully respect the robustness and
credibility of the design of the overall programme," he added.
The
Greek government requested that a 30 percent discount of VAT rates on
islands be maintained, while agreeing to reduce the expenditure ceiling
for military spending by 200 million euros ($222 million) in 2016 and
400 million euros in 2017.
The labour reform framework would also be legislated in autumn 2015.
Meanwhile,
thousands of pensioners lined up early Wednesday morning outside 1,000
bank branches opened to disperse pension payments to those without bank
cards, Efe news agency reported.
Capital controls imposed by the
Greek government have left retirees restricted to withdrawing a maximum
of 120 euros ($133.5) each week, while all Greek banks have been closed
since Monday, and will stay closed until July 6, a day after the
referendum on whether Greece should stay in eurozone.
Banks have committed to issue credit or debit cards for the pensioners as soon as possible.
The
cards will allow retirees to withdraw 60 euros ($66.7) per day from
ATMs, and also make payments in shops and gas stations, or any place
that accepts the card.
In alphabetical order, 1,000 bank branches
will open from Wednesday through Friday to serve pensioners, while
banks of Piraeus, a Greek multinational financial services company, will
remain open throughout, the Greek finance ministry announced on Tuesday
night.
According to another Xinhua report from Berlin, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday there would be no
negotiations over a new bailout programme to Greece before the country's
referendum on Sunday, though the door for talks remained open.
"We
are waiting for the referendum. Before the referendum, there will be no
negotiation over a new aid programme," she told the lower house of
German parliament in a special session, adding that "we can wait
calmly... Europe is strong, much stronger than five years ago when the
European sovereign debt crisis started."
"The future of Europe is not at stake," Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying.
On
Saturday, Greek Prime Minister Alexia Tsipras said the country would
hold a referendum on July 5 on the latest debt deal proposed by its
international creditors.
Merkel on Wednesday reiterated that the
door to talks with the Greek government "was always and will always
remain open", but she would not seek compromise at any cost.
"A
compromise can only be reached when advantages outweigh disadvantages,"
she said. "A good European is not someone who seeks an agreement at any
price. A good European is rather the one that respects the European
treaties and relevant national laws and help in this way to ensure that
the stability of the eurozone is not damaged."
Earlier on
Wednesday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Greece's
latest proposals displayed no further clarity on what Athens wanted. As
the second bailout programme for Greece expired on Tuesday midnight, the
situation had totally changed, and there was no basis for a new deal
with Greece at the moment, he said.