French tell Greeks to hurry up on debt deal

A Greek crisis meeting has been held in Paris with French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, Prime Minister Francois Fillon, the governor of the Bank of France, Christian Noyer, and the heads of the country’s top commercial banks who have lent Athens billions.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Greece must decide quickly if it wants to stay in the euro zone and insisted the bailout package will not be renegotiated: “The October 27 deal is our common roadmap. It has to be implemented as soon as possible. France needs to lead by example, by implementing everything quickly,” he said.

Fillon stressed that “Europe cannot be kept waiting for weeks for the outcome of the referendum”.

The meeting was also to discuss how French banks will raise cash to cover the money they have lent to Greece and will not get back.

The rescue plan agreed last week included them taking a 50 percent loss on their investment.

The banks assured the ministers that they will not need government help to increase their capital reserves.

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