|
 Tsipras also said he would have to resort to a referendum if
lenders insisted on demands deemed unacceptable by his leftist
government, elected to scrap austerity.
Athens is weeks away from running out of cash, and talks with EU and
IMF lenders on more aid have been deadlocked over their demands for
Greece to implement reform measures, including pension cuts and
labor market liberalization.
In his first major television interview since being elected in
January, Tsipras said he expected a deal with creditors by May 9,
three days before a debt payment to the IMF of about 750 million
euros ($815.5 million) falls due. He ruled out a default but
stressed the priority was to pay wages and pensions.
Greek financial markets and the euro rallied on Monday on hopes that
the relegation of Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, a Marxist
academic prone to lecturing his euro zone peers, would improve
prospects for an early deal to avoid a default that might lead to a
Greek exit from the currency area.
 Yet around half of investors expect Greece to leave the euro zone
within the next 12 months, a survey published by German research
group Sentix showed on Tuesday, highlighting market scepticism about
politicians' pledges.
The European Commission said talks on a cash-for-reform deal were
making progress but gave no details of the substance.
Pressed on the options if no deal were found, Tsipras ruled out snap
elections. But he said the government did not have the right to
accept demands "outside our mandate", and a deal that required such
terms would have to be put to Greeks in a referendum.
"But I am certain we will not reach that point. Despite the
difficulties, the possibilities to win in the negotiations are
large. We should not give in to panic moves. Whoever gets scared in
this game loses."
Tsipras said Greece was in the final stretch of negotiations despite
differences on key issues like labor reform, pension cuts and a
proposed value-added tax hike on tourist islands.
He said asset sales would be part of the concessions offered,
including two major items - the sale of Piraeus port and the leasing
of 14 regional airports.
He also said Greece was hoping for a 3 billion to 5 billion euro
pre-payment of future profits if it struck a deal with Russia on
Turkish Stream, a gas pipeline project.
"FINANCIAL ASPHYXIATION"
On Monday, Tsipras appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Euclid
Tsakalotos - one of his close allies and a soft-spoken economist
liked by officials representing creditors - to head a new group
handling negotiations with Greece's lenders.
 He also put economist George Chouliarakis, a close aide to Deputy
Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis, in charge of talks with the
so-called Brussels group of the European Commission, the European
Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
In an effort to show that Athens is serious about giving lenders
access to data, a new team was also set up to support EU and IMF
officials gathering information in the Greek capital.
The moves effectively took the talks out of the hands of Varoufakis,
although Tsipras defended the flamboyant intellectual, while
acknowledging that the mood toward Greece among euro zone finance
ministers was sour.
[to top of second column] |
"There is a negative climate but I believe that this part of the
negotiating game," Tsipras said. "Part of the negotiating game is to
deconstruct the person who sits opposite you at the negotiation
table."
A senior European Central Bank policymaker, Bank of France governor
Christian Noyer, said sidelining Varoufakis from the talks could be
productive, but Athens still faced hard choices.
"He's creating a number of tensions so that can certainly help the
negotiations - but it doesn't change the substance at all. The Greek
government ... must finally decide on serious reforms to put the
economy back on track," Noyer said.
In Brussels, a European Commission spokeswoman said the talks had
gained pace since a confrontational meeting between Varoufakis and
his euro zone peers in Riga last Friday.
"Contacts have intensified and allowed further progress,"
spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt told a daily news briefing. "Talks
are being made more productive and efficient."
Tsipras accused the previous conservative-led Greek government and
unnamed forces in Europe of laying a "trap" for his government when
it took power.
"They derive pleasure from the prospect of a failure in the talks,"
Tsipras said. "We received a country that was in a situation of
financial asphyxiation."
He called the ECB's limit on the amount of Treasury bills Greek
banks can purchase - preventing them from financing the government -
a "politically and ethically unorthodox" decision.
The ECB barred banks from posting Greek government bonds as
collateral to obtain funds in its regular monetary tenders in
February, since Tsipras' government had vowed not to complete its
international bailout program. The banks are kept afloat on
emergency lending assistance from the Greek central bank, but the
ECB caps the amount weekly and limits its use for T-bill purchases
to avoid indirect monetary funding of the state.
Tsipras said his government made a mistake by accepting a verbal
rather than written commitment that the ECB decision would be
reversed once Greece got a deal to extend its bailout.
He offered praise for German Chancellor Angela Merkel - a frequent
target of his criticism before he was elected - saying she was
diligent and organized.
"She has the German culture of wanting - and I think this is good in
our relationship - the other person to tell the truth, to not lie,"
he said. "And that's what I try to do; I don't lie."
(Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Peter Graff)
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