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                     Greece Faces New, Daunting Bailout Bid

   by VOA News

   Greece is facing a critical moment Tuesday, with Prime Minister Alexis
   Tsipras trying to convince its 18 neighbors in the eurozone to cut
   Athens' massive debt and hand it more bailout loans to keep the country
   from running out of cash and possibly exiting the currency bloc.

   Greece has amassed $350 billion of debt over five years, but Tsipras's
   call to write off about $100 billion of that was rebuffed even as key
   European officials arrived in Brussels ahead of a pivotal European
   Union summit on the Greek crisis.

   "No, we are not willing to ease Greece's debt," said Finnish Finance
   Minister Alexander Stubb. "We did that already in 2007. We did that
   also in 2012."

   Slovakian Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said, "Personally, I am
   skeptical a deal will be found."

   Several European leaders said they are willing to negotiate further
   with Tsipras in the aftermath of Sunday's resounding Greek vote against
   the demands of the country's international lenders to impose more
   austerity measures in exchange for more bailout money.

   Officials, however, have bluntly told Tsipras that he needs to present
   a credible plan to reverse the fast-deteriorating Greek economy that
   has left a quarter of its workers unemployed, banks closed for a week
   and depositors limited to 60-euro-a-day withdrawals ($67) at cash
   machines.

   Mounting pressure

   Pressure mounted Monday on Athens as one of its key lenders, the
   European Central Bank, decided not to boost emergency credit to Greek
   banks. Without outside help, those banks are expected to run out of
   cash as early as Wednesday, with Athens projected to default on
   billions of dollars in loan repayments to European creditors later this
   month.

   German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking Monday in Paris alongside
   French President Francois Hollande, said the conditions for a new Greek
   bailout package "have not been met." She placed the onus on Greek
   leaders to act quickly to strike a deal with creditors in order to stay
   in the eurozone.

   "Time is of the essence and we insist that Greek proposals must be on
   the table this week, so we can deal with the situation the way it is at
   the moment," Merkel said.

   Without a deal, analysts say the crisis could force Greece from the
   19-nation euro currency bloc -- the first such departure in the
   eurozone's 16-year history.

   Varoufakis resignation

   Earlier Monday, in a sign seen by some analysts as conciliatory,
   outspoken Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned, after repeated
   clashes with international lenders over bailout terms. Most recently,
   he accused the EU leaders of "terrorism" in their push to persuade
   Greek voters to approve more austerity measures.

   In explaining his departure, Varoufakis said he was "made aware of a
   certain preference" by some members of the eurozone for his "absence"
   from meetings of finance ministers. He also said it was "an idea the
   prime minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an
   agreement" with Greece's creditors.

   Prime Minister Tsipras later named lead bailout negotiator Euclid
   Tsakalotos as Greece's new finance minister.

   In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it is in "the
   collective interests" of Europe and the United States that Greece
   reaches a new bailout deal with its lenders, with Athens agreeing to "a
   package of reforms."

   U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew spoke Monday with Mr. Tsipras and
   Tsakalotos. Lew expressed hope all sides will be able to agree on a
   deal that "will allow Greece to make difficult but necessary fiscal and
   structural reforms, return to growth, and achieve debt sustainability
   within the eurozone," according to a Treasury statement.

   Euro issue

   The chief of the eurozone's finance ministers, Dutch Finance Minister
   Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said keeping Greece in the eurozone "is still
   their objective and mine," but that the referendum "doesn't bring us
   closer to a solution right away.

   "I have to say again that whatever the result of the referendum, tough
   measures are necessary in Greece, otherwise the country won't recover,
   otherwise the government won't work better, otherwise the economy won't
   start turning," he said. "And if the government and population reject
   difficult measures, then we get to a very difficult place, especially
   for the Greek people."

   A leading German economist predicted a likely Greek exit from the
   eurozone. "I have very little hope that [it] can be avoided," said
   Henrik Enderlein. He said there is an 80 percent probability it will
   happen. "This situation is extremely dangerous for the euro area."
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   r-new-bailout/2852019.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/greece-tsipras-facing-daunting-bid-for-new-bailout/2852019.html