German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and the President of France, Francois Hollande, left
Market anxiety eased in Greece yesterday after the country’s finance minister said he was confident of reaching a deal with bailout creditors as soon as next week.
Shares were up almost 2 percent on the Athens Stock Exchange in afternoon trading yesterday, while bond yields retreated from a Monday spike, with the 2-year rate dropping by more than a percentage point to 23 percent.
Greece’s new left-wing government is struggling to agree on a list of reforms creditors have demanded in return for bailout money that Greece needs to avoid defaulting on debts coming due next month.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said late Monday that his government is close to a deal. “Let’s say (it’s a matter) of about a week.”
The leaders of Germany and France said the talks need to accelerate and should produce an agreement by the end of May so that Greece can face its debts this summer.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said at a joint press conference in Berlin yesterday that they were prepared to meet with Greek President Alexis Tsipras this week on the sidelines of an EU summit in Riga to try and work through issues face-to-face.
“We need to speed things up — Greece has financial needs so financial resources need to be found,” Hollande said.
Merkel added: “We are all very interested that there be a program by the end of May.” AP
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