The head of euro zone finance ministers urged Greece on Monday to "stop wasting time" and buckle down to serious talks and implementation of a reform programme to secure urgently needed fresh funds from its international creditors. "Little has been done since the last Eurogroup (meeting two weeks ago) in terms of talks, in terms of implementation," Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on arrival for a meeting of ministers of the 19-nation currency bloc.
"We have to stop wasting time and really start talks seriously," he said, adding that euro zone partners stood ready to support Greece if it continued on the economic reform path. Euro zone officials were not persuaded by a letter sent by outspoken Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Friday outlining seven planned measures. They said it was only a starting point and no basis for releasing frozen bailout money. Varoufakis irritated EU partners in a weekend newspaper interview by dangling the prospect of a referendum. Dijsselbloem said earlier the steps outlined were "far from complete", adding that it would be very difficult to complete the reform programme during the four-month extension of Greece's European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout that runs until end June.
Shut out of capital markets and with international loans frozen against a background of falling tax revenues, Greece could run out of cash later this month. Hard-line German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters Athens must start implementing its obligations and refrain from unilateral changes to its commitments. Varoufakis, who wants a negotiated restructuring of Greece's debt to official lenders, was quoted by Italy's Corriere della Sera on Sunday as saying the leftist-led government could call a referendum or early elections if European partners rejected its debt and growth plans.
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