Courtesy of Mish.
Greece remains in the spotlight and neither side seems willing to make a substantial change. This is the way it's been for five years.
Making matters worse for Greece, President Obama Says Time for Tsipras to Make ‘Tough Choices’.
Barack Obama, the US president, put Athens on notice that it needed to urgently make difficult economic reforms in the clearest sign yet Greece was becoming isolated on the international stage for its combative stance towards its bailout creditors.
Breaking from past urgings for both sides to make concessions, Mr Obama put the onus on Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, saying it was time for “tough decisions”.
“What it’s going to require is Greece being serious about making some important reforms, not only to satisfy creditors, but also to create a platform where the Greek economy can start growing again,” Mr Obama said at a post-summit news conference. “The Greeks are going to have to follow through and make some tough political choices that are going to be good in the long term.”
By publicly emphasising Greece’s obligations at such a critical time in the negotiations, Mr Obama has closed off one of the last potential escape valves for Athens.
Proposal Dismissed by Creditors as "Vague Rehash"
Bloomberg reports New Greek Budget Plan Falls Short of Last Week’s Pledge.
Greece pulled back on budget concessions to its creditors in new proposals Tuesday, as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said it would be “daft” to accept blame for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s predicament.
The latest plan falls short of the budget targets that Tsipras agreed on in a June 3 meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a European Union official said. Greece didn’t dispute those objectives in any of its subsequent meetings with creditor institutions last week, according to the official.
As a result, Greece is sliding backward in its negotiations as it enters the last weeks of its bailout deal.
“It’s not possible that the borrower decides under what conditions the lender kindly gives his money,” Volker Kauder, caucus leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc in parliament, said Tuesday in Berlin. “We want Greece to stay in the euro, but whether this is achievable depends entirely on Greece.”
Under the latest Greek plan, Tsipras wants access to bailout funds left in the European Financial Stability Facility and for the country’s banks to be allowed to buy more of the state’s short-term debt, an international official said. Greece also requested funds from the European Stability Mechanism to repay about 6.7 billion euros of bonds held by the European Central Bank that come due in July and August.
The official described the revised Greek plan as a vague rehash of earlier proposals and said it is not credible.
Greek "Paperology" Continues
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