Greek PM says troika bailout failed, will not ask for extension

Greece's leftist PM, Alexis Tsipras, has announced that the EU and IMF bailout of the country’s debt has failed, and that Athens doesn’t plan to ask for an extension.
“The bailout failed,” Tsipras said in his first major speech to the Greek parliament as the country’s new prime minister on Sunday. “The new government is not justified in asking for an extension...because it cannot ask for an extension of mistakes.”...

Head of EC Says Greek Debt Relief is ‘Out of Question’

Members of the Eurozone will not accept Greece’s demands for debt-relief, the President of the European Commission told Le Figaro in an exclusive interview...

IMF frees US$4.6b in aid for Greece. - After a yearlong delay to ensure Athens was meeting targets set by bailout lenders

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released US$4.6 billion in aid to Greece on Friday, after a yearlong delay to ensure Athens was meeting targets set by bailout lenders.

The disbursement followed the release at the end of April by the Eurogroup of 6.3 billion euros (US$8.6 billion) in rescue program support to Greece, in a firm nod to its progress in cleaning up its finances and narrowing its budget deficit.

The IMF funds are part of a four-year joint package with the European Union set in March 2012 and worth a total of US$235 billion (173 billion euros) to rescue the sinking Greek economy.

Greece prepares to approve bill needed for fresh loans. -Despite eleventh hour attempts to delay voting by the opposition.

ATHENS: The Greek parliament was expected to approve late on Sunday a bill required by the country's international lenders despite eleventh hour attempts to delay voting by the opposition.
Greece's main opposition Syriza party called for a dissent and censure motion against Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, in an attempt to push back the crucial vote on reforms.

Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras who branded the new bill "a crime committed against the people and our country", accused Stournaras of being "the main administrator of the death contract against Greek society".

No need for Greek debt aid talks before August. -Eurozone

BRUSSELS: There is no need to discuss fresh aid for twice-bailed out Greece before August, with a current package enough if Athens meets conditions, the head of the eurozone finance ministers said on Monday.
"If the current programme is fulfilled, then further (aid) disbursements can take place by May which will take (Greece) through to August," said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
"In August, we will talk about the future," Dijsselbloem said as he went into a meeting of the 18 eurozone finance ministers, with Athens hoping for early talks on the issue in the run-up to May elections for the European Parliament.
"The debt has to be reduced and that is precisely what we will talk about after the summer," Dijsselbloem added.

Merkel hails Greek progress in cutting debt, urges more efforts. -It is her "responsibility" as chancellor to keep the reform pressure on Greece.

BERLIN, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday praised the progress Greece has made in cutting debt while meeting her Greek counterpart, but said more could be done in its efforts to overcome the crisis.

Merkel noted "mojor progress" in cutting Greece's debt, adding that she has "full confidence in the Greek government and its prime minister."

But she also warned that negotiations between Greece and internationallenders on more aid will not be an easy job.

Cyprus said on Friday that it will launch a criminal probe into the island's economic meltdown that prompted it to seek a harsh international bailout and dismantle part of its banking sector.

NICOSIA: Cyprus said on Friday that it will launch a criminal probe into the island's economic meltdown that prompted it to seek a harsh international bailout and dismantle part of its banking sector.
The move comes after a committee of enquiry -- appointed three months ago to probe the reasons behind the economic crisis -- decided it could not investigate issues that were pending in court.

The cabinet met on Friday and agreed that the public enquiry could continue its work in tandem with a criminal investigation.
Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou told reporters that issues caused by the committee's decision not to investigate cases before the court "can be resolved with a parallel investigation by criminal investigators".

Greek diplomatic missions down-under to close

Perth and Wellington face the axe as Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs feels the pinch....
The Greek Consulate in Perth and the Embassy of Greece in Wellington are among six embassies and three consulates around the world to be closed as part of sweeping cuts, as the Greek government grapples to reduce its own costs. Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to sell its former diplomatic properties to raise millions of euros. Further salary reductions for Greece’s diplomatic staff are also on the cards, with reports indicating that MFA salaries may be reduced by 15 to 20 per cent in some cases. The first phase of the plan will see the closure of Greek embassies in Wellington, Lima, Montevideo, Khartoum, Hanoi and Harare.

Schaeuble pledges to stop speculating about Greece ahead of report

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Tuesday called for patience rather than engaging in «speculation» ahead of a report by Greece's troika of international creditors.
"We all agree that we are totally patient in waiting for the next report of the troika,» he told reporters in Vaanta, Finland, after a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Jutta Urpilainen and Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager.
"Because any speculation before that doesn't make sense,» he added when asked about the possibility of restructuring Athens' debt again.

Russian loan will not ease Cypriot austerity plan

Cyprus will not ease off fiscal austerity measures required by its European Union partners if it secures a 5-billion-euro loan from Russia, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.
The Mediterranean island, with an economy that generates a little over 17 billion euros in annual gross domestic product, may need 10 billion euros to rescue a financial sector hammered by its exposure to Greek debt.