Greece

After weeks of wrangling, Greece’s coalition government said it had reached a basic agreement on Thursday over highly unpopular new austerity measures that could set off a new round of social unrest, the International Herald Tribune reported. The government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras must now present the proposed actions — $15 billion in cuts to pensions, salaries and state spending, and at least $2.6 billion in new taxes — for further discussion with the foreign lenders, who have demanded them in return for releasing the next portion of aid to the stricken country.

Greece's international official lenders are at loggerheads over how to solve Athens' debt crisis, threatening more trouble for the euro, Reuters reported. Officials from Greece and the "troika" of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund have told Reuters tensions have risen in recent weeks as negotiators wrangle over further budget cuts, with the IMF adamant that Greece reduce its debt further.

Crédit Agricole SA will likely have to pour a further €600 million ($779 million) to €700 million into its flailing Greek unit before it will be able sell the subsidiary, according to people from both the private and public sectors with knowledge of the sales process, The Wall Street Journal reported. The French lender's once grand ambitions in southern Europe have been badly bruised by the sovereign-debt crisis.

Greece should be allowed more time to meet deficit targets set by international lenders provided it is sincere about reforming its economy, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Sunday, Reuters reported. Near-bankrupt Greece needs the European Union and International Monetary Fund's blessing on spending cuts worth nearly 12 billion euros ($16 billion) to unlock its next tranche of aid, without which it faces default and a potential exit from the euro zone. "The answer must not be a Greek exit from the euro zone," Ayrault said in an interview with news website Mediapart.

Greece's prime minister started a new round of negotiations Monday with representatives of the country's bailout creditors, who are demanding a fresh set of controversial austerity cuts to release the next batch of rescue loans the country desperately needs to stay afloat, the Associated Press reported. Antonis Samaras' meeting with officials from the so-called troika of the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank comes a day ahead of his talks in Frankfurt with ECB president Mario Draghi.

The Finnish parliament would find it all but impossible to approve any changes to the latest Greek bailout, according to senior politicians in Helsinki, the Financial Times reported. Leading figures in the two main parties in the six-party coalition government said that if Greece was given more time to cut its deficit it would impose additional costs on Finland, making parliamentary approval “very difficult”.

France’s biggest banks are preparing to pull out of Greece in the coming weeks, the latest large international business to abandon the country as it grapples with a debilitating recession and nagging questions about its future in the euro zone, the International Herald Tribune reported. Société Générale said Wednesday that it was in advanced discussions to sell its 99.1 percent stake in Geniki Bank, one of Greece’s biggest financial institutions, to Piraeus Bank of Greece.

Greece's political leaders Wednesday appeared close to agreeing on a package of austerity measures, with a final deal expected by early next week just before a team of inspectors from its international creditors arrives in Athens, The Wall Street Journal reported. After a two-hour meeting at the prime minister's office, officials at the meeting gave conflicting accounts, but all agreed that a deal was imminent.

Crédit Agricole SA said Tuesday that it could seal a deal to sell its troubled Greek bank within weeks, a move that would draw a line under its disastrous foray into Greece, but left open questions about the cost of such an exit for France's third-largest publicly listed bank, The Wall Street Journal reported. Crédit Agricole, which once had grand ambitions in southern Europe, has been badly bruised by the sovereign-debt crisis.

Bild, Germany’s most-read newspaper, has accused Greece of “making our euro kaput” and only a few days ago referred to the country as “a bottomless pit,” the International Herald Tribune reported. On Wednesday, though, the paper featured a friendly chat with the man in charge of that bottomless pit: Antonis Samaras, the Greek prime minister, who pleaded during an interview for more time to repair his country’s shattered economy. The Bild reporter even inquired how Mr. Samaras was feeling after an eye operation.