Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a Dutch parliamentary committee on
Wednesday the Eurogroup remains opposed to writing off Greek debt,
an option which has been considered by the International Monetary
Fund, and warned that even in the case of a default, "it (the debt)
will not go away."
Greece is running out of time and must submit counter proposals by
Thursday, when the Eurogroup meets in Luxembourg, he said.
Athens is set to default on a 1.6 billion euro ($1.80 billion) debt
repayment to the IMF on June 30 unless it receives fresh funds by
then, possibly driving it toward the exit of the euro zone, but
relations with its creditors are bitter.
"If they don’t come, we can’t assess them," he said, adding that the
aim of negotiations is "still to keep Greece within the Eurozone".
Earlier on Wednesday, Dijsselbloem proposed delaying the election of
his successor as head of the Eurogroup, which had been expected on
Thursday, until July, to allow attention to remain focused on
Greece.
"Greece requires all attention," Dijsselbloem, who is also the Dutch
finance minister, wrote in a tweet. "The election should not lead to
debate on procedures."
Dijsselbloem, who has played a central role in negotiations between
Greece and its creditors, is running for a fresh 30-month term, but
he faces stiff competition from his Spanish counterpart Luis De
Guindos, seen as the candidate of the southern countries hardest hit
by the eurozone debt crisis.
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Speaking as he headed into a Dutch parliamentary debate before
Thursday's planned gathering of the Eurogroup, Dijsselbloem said
time was running short for a deal between Greece and its creditors.
"It's up to the Greeks to present a number of alternatives," he told
reporters. "The things they don't want they have made abundantly
clear. That means they will have to present other, alternative
proposals."
(Additional reporting by Thomas Escritt and Anthony Deutsch; editing
by Philippa Fletcher)
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