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 Instead, a government official said, it wanted authority from the
euro zone to issue more short-term debt, and to receive profits that
the European Central Bank and other central banks have gained from
holding Greek bonds.
The official said Greece was in effect asking for a "bridge
agreement" to keep state finances running until Athens can present a
new debt and reform programme, "not a new bailout, with terms,
inspection visits, etc.".
"It is ... necessary that Greece is given the possibility to issue
T-bills, beyond the (current) 15 billion euro threshold, in order to
cover any extra needs," said the official, asking not be named.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis returned empty-handed from a tour
of European capitals in which even left-leaning governments in
France and Italy insisted Greece must stick to commitments made to
the European Union and IMF and rejected any debt write-off.
The Athens official made clear that the new government, which came
to power on a wave of anti-austerity anger in elections last month,
now wanted to forego remaining bailout money that had austerity
strings attached:
"Greece is not asking for the remaining tranches of the current
bailout programme - except the 1.9 billion euros that the ECB and
the EU member states' central banks must return."
Euro zone finance ministers will discuss how to proceed with
financial support for Athens at a special session next Wednesday
ahead of the first summit of EU leaders with the new Greek prime
minister, Alexis Tsipras, the following day.
However, the chairman of the finance ministers said the following
meeting of the Eurogroup on Feb. 16 would be Greece's last chance to
apply for a bailout extension because some euro zone countries would
need to consult their parliaments.
"Time will become very short if they (Greece) don't ask for an
extension (by then)," said Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
The current bailout for Greece expires on Feb 28. Without it the
country will not get financing or debt relief from its lenders and
has little hope of financing itself in the markets.
NO PROGRESS SO FAR
Participants said no progress was made at a preparatory meeting of
senior finance officials in Brussels on Thursday because Greece and
its euro zone partners were so far apart.
"It was Greece against all others, basically one versus 18," one
official said.
Athens' partners broadly lined up in support of a hardline German
document rejecting any roll-back of reforms or commitments made by
previous Greek governments.
Tsipras and his ministers promised in their first days in office to
raise the minimum wage, re-hire some sacked government employees and
stop some privatisations.
This clashed with conditions set by the IMF and euro zone countries,
which have lent Athens a total of 240 billion euros ($270 billion).
The ECB raised the stakes this week by deciding to bar Greek banks
from using Greek government bonds as collateral to borrow from the
central bank as long as there is no prospect of an agreed bailout
programme.
That makes lenders dependent on more costly emergency liquidity from
the Greek central bank, which the ECB can stop at any time.
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Greek bank shares fell further on Friday at the end of a week of
wild swings, as brokers cut their forecasts on worries over
dwindling deposits and brinkmanship between Athens and its
creditors.
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's added to Greece's discomfort by
cutting its long-term sovereign debt to 'B minus' from 'B', citing
liquidity constraints weighing on Greece's banks.
Portugal, which emerged from its own EU/IMF bailout last year,
joined the chorus of countries insisting that Greece must stick to
the austerity medicine as Lisbon had done, pay its debts, and
respect past agreements with EU partners.
NOT THE EASIEST ROUTE
Economy Minister Antonio Pires de Lima told the Reuters Euro Zone
Summit that Lisbon had chosen a route "which was not the easiest
one" to recover credibility and return to growth, and "that is also
our attitude to the situation in other countries".
Varoufakis was expecting tough treatment from his partners at next
Wednesday's meeting.
"It's expected, obviously there is pressure as part of a dynamic
situation, we are in a negotiation. But we believe that we will
reach a mutually beneficial solution soon," said a separate official
from the prime minister's office.
Before then, Tsipras will deliver a policy speech to parliament on
Sunday and seek a vote of confidence on Tuesday, which he is likely
to win easily.
Euro zone officials say Greece is free to design its own reforms in
line with Syriza's campaign promises, as long as the result is in
line with commitments to stronger public finances, debt repayment
and reforms.
Time to reach a deal is short. Some analysts say Greece could run
out of cash as early as March without further euro zone help.
"Greece's financing needs over the next five years may amount to
30-35 billion euros," Italy's Unicredit bank said in a research
note.
"However, if we set the primary surplus at 1-1.5 percent of GDP and
assume that privatisations will stop, as requested by the Greek
government, overall financing needs would rise to 60 billion euros,"
Unicredit said.
Both Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank said their base case was that
Greece would remain in the euro zone, but a rise in deposit outflows
had raised the risk of a crisis.
(Additional reporting by Jeremy Gaunt and Costas Pitas in Athens and
Lionel Laurent in London; Writing by Paul Taylor and Jeremy Gaunt;
Editing by Giles Elgood, Kevin Liffey and Toby Chopra)
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