Greece

Greek workers walked off the job on Friday, heeding a call by the country’s labor unions to join a three-day general strike to protest a new round of austerity measures including new pension cuts and tax increases, the International New York Times reported. The strike came as Greek lawmakers debated the new measures, worth 5.4 billion euros, or $6.2 billion, in budget savings, before a vote Sunday night and a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels the next day.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece asked on Wednesday for a summit meeting of eurozone leaders that would allow him to make his case for easier terms on sorely needed aid to help his country avoid bankruptcy, the International New York Times reported. Without new rescue money by July, Greece could default on its debts and throw the 19-member eurozone into another period of chaos. There could also be a domestic upheaval in Greece similar to last summer, when the country had a referendum on the terms accompanying its third bailout, followed by snap general elections. Mr.

Negotiations between Greece and its international creditors ran into trouble on Tuesday over demands for extra austerity measures, denting hopes for a quick end to the monthslong deadlock over the country’s bailout, The Wall Street Journal reported. The impasse is the latest in a saga of troubled talks. The Greek government and the International Monetary Fund are at loggerheads over how to find up to €3.6 billion ($4 billion) in so-called contingency measures, or additional austerity, if Greece misses its budget targets.

Discussions on new debt relief measures for Greece will commence as early as next Thursday, as the eurogroup of finance ministers agreed to endorse a new ‘contingency package’ for Greece, the Irish Times reported.

The Hilton hotel in Athens makes the perfect backdrop for high-intensity talks. Its ambience is subdued, its corridors hushed, its meeting rooms an oasis of tranquility, The Guardian reported. When Greece, in one of its many stand-offs with the international creditors keeping it afloat, finally won the right to conduct negotiations outside the confines of government offices, it seemed only natural that they should be held at the hotel. However, in recent weeks the talks have assumed an increasingly nervous edge.

Greece’s government aims to use better-than-expected budget data for 2015, due for release Thursday, to argue against extra austerity measures that its creditors want, as the likelihood of another summer drama over Greek debt increases, The Wall Street Journal reported. Senior Greek officials say that fiscal data from the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat will show that Greece had a primary budget surplus (before interest) of about 0.6% to 0.7% of gross domestic product in 2015.

Greece’s creditors have agreed to press the country for additional austerity measures if it falls short of budget targets, a move that papers over disagreements between the lenders but could test the stability of Greece’s fragile government, The Wall Street Journal reported. European Union institutions and the International Monetary Fund are set to resume talks in Athens on Tuesday and Wednesday after reaching a deal among themselves in Washington at the weekend.

Greece’s creditors are considering seeking extra austerity measures that would be triggered if Athens misses its fiscal targets, in a bid to bridge differences between Europe and the International Monetary Fund and break a deadlock threatening to unravel the Greek bailout, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the proposal, say officials involved in the discussions, Greece would have to sign up to so-called contingency measures of up to about €3 billion, on top of the package of about €5 billion in tax increases and spending cuts Greece and its lenders are already negotiating.

Greek home appliance retailer Electroniki shut down its 45 outlets nationwide on Thursday after a court ruled it was bankrupt, becoming the latest casualty of the country's economic slump, Reuters reported. Greek retailers have been hit hard after six years of economic recession, and austerity in return for international bailouts, which have wiped out nearly a third of household disposable income.

Greece and its creditors paused negotiations early Tuesday without reaching an agreement over the country’s bailout review and will continue next week after the International Monetary Fund’s annual spring meetings, according to the Greek Finance Minister, The Wall Street Journal reported. “Progress has been made on the issues needed in order to have a deal,” Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said. Mr.