Greece crisis - Merkel says Eurogroup talks will be decisive on Saturday

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/26/greece-crisis-merkel-eurogroup-saturday-talks-decisive-deadline



German chancellor says demands of time dictates weekend meeting is last chance for deal on Greek bailout

Greece crisis - Merkel says Eurogroup talks will be decisive on Saturday
Jennifer Rankin
Friday 26 June 2015 03.27 EDT

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said an emergency eurozone meeting on Saturday will be “decisive” in resolving the Greek debt crisis, as Athens faces a critical 24 hours in its attempt to avoid a debt default.

European officials in Brussels were resuming efforts on Friday to resolve the standoff between Greece and its creditors, but are running out of time to prevent the indebted country missing a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) payment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday and the severing of life support to its banking system.

After talks between Athens and its creditors ground to a halt on Thursday, a further meeting of eurozone finance ministers will be held on Saturday in a bid to achieve a breakthrough. Saturday is realistically the last chance for the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, to strike an agreement, because the country’s lenders are demanding the parliament in Athens ratifies any deal before markets open on Monday.

Speaking after a meeting of European leaders broke up early on Friday morning, Merkel said the Saturday Eurogroup meeting “will be decisive because time is of the essence”.