Yahoo Finance Greece Says No IMF Repayment Without Deal
A spokesman for the ruling party in Greece has said there will be no debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday without the prospect of a new aid deal.
Nikos Filis, who represents Syriza's members of parliament, made his comments to Mega TV in Greece as negotiations continue on unlocking €7.2bn in bailout funds, currently being withheld because Athens is refusing to accept the financial reforms demanded of it in return for the cash.
Greece's creditors - the IMF, European Central Bank (ECB) and European Union - produced a new draft offer on Tuesday, hours after the anti-austerity Greek government submitted its own revised terms.
The rival plans are set to be discussed by deputy eurozone finance ministers while prime minister Alexis Tsipras is also due in Brussels for talks with the president of the European Commission.
In comments late on Wednesday morning, Mr Tsipras said he had not received details of the creditors' latest proposals but he was aiming to discuss his government's new offer to give his country "the ability to emerge from the economic asphyxiation" and "put an end to Grexit (leaving the EU) scenarios, to doomsday scenarios."
He urged "realism" in the looming talks.
The two sides are said to be closer to a deal but it is clear that differences remain amid warnings that the country risks insolvency by the end of the month unless it accepts the terms being offered by its creditors.
The threat issued by Mr Filis emerged at the same time as an interview given by the German finance minister, who accused the Syriza party of misleading voters ahead of January's election.
Wolfgang Schaeuble told the weekly paper Wirtschaftswoche: "Europe is based on mutual trust.
"You have to act sensibly, that is what makes the current talks with Greece so tiring,
"In the last election, Syriza succeeded in talking Greeks into believing there is a simpler way to stay in the euro - a way without major reform efforts that are actually in Greece's interests.
"Perhaps they shouldn't have made promises like that."
Greece is due to a payment of €300m to the IMF on Friday - the first of four this month totalling €1.6bn.
It is feared that without a deal in the coming days, a default on its debts is inevitable especially as Greece has pledged to prioritise the payment of wages and pensions to public sector workers over debt repayments.
