Greece

For years, Greece has been trying to attack corruption and tax evasion, from the smallest taverna owner to the nation’s most powerful oligarchs. Now, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is vowing to take far more action than previous administrations in cracking down, the International New York Times reported. He says his government, led by his leftist party, Syriza, will succeed because having never held power, it is not beholden to the entrenched interests that have long fought to maintain the status quo. But even Mr. Nikoloudis acknowledges that fixing Greece’s finances will not be easy.

Of all the challenges Greece has faced in recent years, prodding its citizens to pay their taxes has been one of the most difficult, The Wall Street Journal reported. At the end of 2014, Greeks owed their government about €76 billion ($86 billion) in unpaid taxes accrued over decades, though mostly since 2009. The government says most of that has been lost to insolvency and only €9 billion can be recovered.

Eurozone finance ministers on Tuesday approved Greece’s plan meant to ease the hardships created by its international bailout, extending that loan program by four more months, the International New York Times reported. In revising the terms of the bailout program, the new Greek government pledged to take a disciplined approach to budgets, spending and tax collection, while remaining committed to relieving the “humanitarian crisis” caused by years of economic hardship and high unemployment.

Greek leaders scrambled on Sunday to come up with a list of proposed changes to the nation’s austerity program that would be acceptable to their creditors by a Monday deadline, even as they faced a revolt by members of their own radical-left party, angered that the government had bent to demands by Brussels, the International New York Times reported.

Greece is headed toward a potentially destructive standoff with Europe after Germany rejected a last-minute request on Thursday to extend its loan program, the International New York Times reported. Unless the two sides can bridge their differences, Greece could find itself cut off from its financial lifeline and facing insolvency. The country’s current bailout program is set to expire in little more than a week. Neither country seems willing to budge at this point.

Greek officials are planning to submit a proposal to eurozone finance ministers for breaking the impasse in debt negotiations between the new government in Athens and Greece’s European creditors, the International New York Times reported. Athens on Thursday will propose an extension of several months to the current bailout program, a government spokesman, Gavriil Sakellaridis, said on Wednesday. He declined to discuss specifics, including the length of the extension being sought, citing the delicacy of the negotiations.

Greece will seek an extension to its rescue deal from the rest of the eurozone Wednesday, two officials with knowledge of the situation said, marking an apparent shift in the standoff between Athens and its creditors, The Wall Street Journal reported. The extension of what the officials called Greece’s “loan agreement” could be for a period of four to six months, preventing the country’s current deal with the eurozone from expiring at the end of February and giving it time to negotiate a new bailout. The conditions attached to the request were still under negotiation, they said.

The European Central Bank is unlikely to pull the plug on emergency funding for Greek banks this week despite a standoff between Athens and its international lenders, according to sources, the Irish Times reported. The ECB’s governing council meets on Wednesday and will review the provision of so-called Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) to Greek banks, as Greece is at loggerheads with euro zone governments over the future of its international bailout, which expires at the end of this month.

A crucial meeting of eurozone finance ministers over the future of Greece’s bailout broke down in acrimony on Monday after Athens angrily rejected the bloc’s insistence that it agree to complete its current €172bn rescue as “absurd” and “unacceptable,” the Financial Times reported. It is the second time in five days that negotiations between the new anti-austerity Greek government and its eurozone creditors have collapsed and it means Athens, whose public finances are deteriorating fast, could soon be left with no European financial backstop.

The European Central Bank has extended another €5bn in emergency loans to banks in Greece, following fears that a spate of withdrawals could leave lenders in the country short of funding, the Financial Times reported. The ECB decision, made after a call with members of its governing council on Thursday, came as Alexis Tsipras, Greek prime minister, took his case for a new financial rescue deal to an EU summit in Brussels.