Government rebuffs reports it will take hard line at Eurogroup
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s office on Friday rebuffed reports earlier in the day that the Greek team to attend next week’s extraordinary meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels to discuss Greek debt would not be accepting any form of extension on the current bailout deal.
Media on Friday cited a source from the Finance Ministry as saying that Greece would seek a temporary extension to financing, or a bridge deal, after the current program expires on February 28 and before it presents its own proposals for debt reduction and reforms but would not agree to an extension of the terms of the current deal between Athens and its international creditors.
Meanwhile on Friday, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said following a preparatory meet of eurozone officials that such an option is out of the question. “We do not do bridge loans,” he said.
