Greece

As Greece continues talks with creditors over the next stages of its international bailout programme, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, has warned that it is “no success story” yet. Further discussions will take place at the meeting of EU finance ministers in Malta on Friday. Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has called for an emergency summit of EU leaders if a deal is not struck by the end of the week, the Financial Times reported.

Top Greek and European officials indicated Wednesday that it's possible to reach a breakthrough in the country's difficult bailout talks over the next two days, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Greece's prime minister said that if a deal on paying Athens the next bailout installment fails to materialize, the eurozone should hold a special summit.

The Greek government is on course to significantly exceed its creditor budget targets, the EU’s economics chief has said, as he warned Athens’ stuttering economic recovery was a risk of derailing from a long-running delay over its bailout. Addressing MEPs in Brussels on Tuesday, Pierre Moscovici said the Syriza-led government would exceed a 3 per cent primary budget surplus for 2016 when official figures are released later this month, the Financial Times reported.

Greek ministers and the country’s bailout monitors were on Tuesday trying to strike a deal on the pension and labour market reforms needed to unlock further financial aid, the Financial Times reported. With the clock ticking down to more than €6bn in debt repayments that Athens must make in July, negotiators say an accord on the main elements of the policy package must be reached soon to stave off the risk of a crisis this summer.

Thousands of elderly Greeks protested peacefully on Tuesday against more pension cuts, as cash-strapped Greece remained locked in talks with lenders on further austerity and unpopular labor reforms, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Pension cuts have been a regular feature of austerity drives to ensure that financial aid continues to the indebted country. Greece has needed three multi-billion bailouts since 2010 to stave off bankruptcy. Greece is now negotiating new cuts to keep its latest 86 billion-euro ($91.54 billion) bailout.

Greece’s beleaguered banking system has taken a fresh hit from the country’s shaky bailout talks this year, registering its worst deposit outflows since the height of its debt crisis in the summer of 2015, the Financial Times reported. Latest figures from the European Central Bank showed households and businesses pulled €1.1bn from the country’s lenders last month, moderating from the €1.7bn withdrawn at the start of the year but marking the worst two-monthly outflow since the country was bought to the brink of a eurozone exit nearly two years ago.

Greece will not last in the eurozone in the long run and officials working on a review of its bailout package should prepare for such a possibility, a senior member of the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said. Greece has lost a quarter of its national output since it first sought financial aid in 2010, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Its current bailout package is the third in seven years.

Finance ministers from the euro currency discussed the impasse in Greece’s talks with creditors on Monday, but no breakthrough emerged on the latest conflict that threatens to derail Greece’s bailout deal: workers’ rights. The International Monetary Fund is insisting on further deregulation of Greece’s labor market, and rejects any reversal of earlier labor reforms, as a condition of rejoining the troubled Greek bailout program as a lender, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday there had been significant progress with lenders on a bailout review, and that he hoped for a comprehensive deal by April, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Creditors started fresh negotiations with Athens last week on signing off on a new bailout review under the terms of the country's 86 billion euro (74.86 billion pounds) financing facility. The talks have dragged on for months amid disagreement on fiscal targets and whether the International Monetary Fund will come on board.

The Greek economy suffered a severe blow at the end of last year, contracting by 1.2 per cent in the quarter and underscoring the hit to growth following a fresh setback in Athens’ €86bn bailout talks, the Financial Times reported. Figures from Elstat revealed the economy had unexpectedly shrunk three times more than its first estimate of 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016. It was the worst quarter since the height of Athens’ bailout woes in the summer of 2015 when country was bought to the brink of default and was forced to impose capital controls on its banking system.