Greece has submitted a new two-year aid proposal to its international lenders in a bid to strike a deal over its debts. Eurogroup ministers will
ADVERTISEMENTGreece has submitted a new two-year aid proposal to its international lenders in a bid to strike a deal over its debts.
Eurogroup ministers will discuss the latest proposal via a teleconference call at 19h CET.
It comes with the clock ticking for Greece as it enters its final hours as the deadline for a 1.6 billion euro payment is due to expire.
Unless there is an eleventh-hour deal, they are likely to default. The European Commission offered a last ditch offer to make Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accept a bailout deal he had already rejected.
Instead the leader has put the choice into the hands of the Greeks who are to vote in a referendum on July 5th, a decision which divides the nation.
“It doesn’t matter what currency you use, what matters is that you have money to survive,” remarked one Athens resident. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s called drachma, whether it’s called euro, or whether it’s called koukourikou. It’s all the same when you don’t have it,” he concluded.
“We are free-falling,” said another. “Let’s hope that someone will help us and we will have a solution at the last minute.”
“Let’s say no to these gangsters,” explained one pensioner in the Greek capital, imploring, “Let us all die with dignity. No more, enough is enough.”
Meanwhile the uncertainty continues to weigh on pensioners – those without debit cards will be limited to withdrawals of 120 euros per week from Wednesday.
To avoid a bank run, the government has closed banks until after the referendum, and limited cash machine withdrawals to 60 euros per day.