Tsipras slams IMF in blow to crunch talks

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is holding fresh talks with his country's creditors as he tries to secure an urgent deal on Athens' debt.

Greece postpones IMF payment, snap elections possible. (AAP)

Source: AAP

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has launched a scathing attack on the IMF for rejecting Greek reform proposals ahead of talks in Brussels, denting hopes of a final debt deal to prevent Athens from defaulting and leaving the euro.

The leftist leader hit out at the "strange position" just minutes before going into Wednesday's meeting with key lenders including Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, and the EU.

Markets dipped over fears that a meeting of eurozone finance ministers would fail to reach an agreement to unlock vital bailout funds that could be presented to an EU summit on Thursday.

"This strange position maybe hides two things: either they do not want an agreement or they are serving specific interests in Greece," Tsipras said.

"The repeated rejection of equivalent measures by certain institutions never occurred before - neither in Ireland nor Portugal," he tweeted, referring to bailouts in those two countries.

The EU-IMF creditors were due to present Tsipras with their own "common position" on Monday in response to the last-ditch list of reform proposals submitted by Athens on Sunday, sources said.

"It's up to the Greeks now to have their say," one source told AFP.

Tsipras - who recently accused the IMF of "criminal responsibility" for Greece's five years of austerity-driven woes - was meeting the key players from Greece's bailout monitors: Lagarde, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi.

Wednesday's meetings had earlier been billed as potentially decisive, with the Greek government saying it expected a deal within 48 hours.

Greece and its creditors have been locked in a stand-off since Tsipras was elected in January, the EU-IMF demanding reforms before unlocking the last 7.2 billion euros ($A10.39 billion) of Greece's bailout before it expires on June 30.

Athens needs to meet a 1.5-billion-euro IMF loan repayment due on the same day and failure to pay means a default, with officials warning it could lead to Greece crashing out of the euro and even the European Union.

The new proposals by Athens aim to raise eight billion euros, mostly through new taxes on the wealthy and businesses, VAT increases and a cut in defence spending, officials said.

Athens insists the 'red line' of pensions remains largely untouched.

The IMF and Germany, Europe's biggest economy, are seen as being the most sceptical about the Greek proposals. Berlin is particularly keen to avoid any mention of debt relief in a deal.

Tsipras's comments seemed to be at odds with his Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who said his country was in the "final stretch" of negotiations with creditors and could reach agreement shortly.

The Greek government meanwhile warned that any accord would have to be approved by a parliamentary majority before June 30, a tough task for Tsipras as many on the left wing of his party view him as reneging on campaign promises.


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world