BRUSSELS (AP) — Greece's international creditors failed to agree Monday on how to get the country's bailout program back on track and put off again the release of the next batch loans that Athens is using to pay its day-to-day bills.
"Today a huge step has been made in order to secure the program on Greece, in order to enhance the confidence on the eurozone, in order to find a strong and definite solution for this question, which has lasted for more than two years now," said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, as he left the meeting of finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro.
The country has received about €150 billion of those loans so far, in exchange for making tough budget cuts and sweeping reforms to its labor market and bureaucracy.
[...] politicians sought to spin the meeting as having made some progress, especially after Greece pushed two tough bills through its parliament in recent days — one with a raft of reforms, the other with a stringent 2013 budget.
A draft report from Greece's creditors that was obtained by The Associated Press is short on such details.
"Since you are excluded from markets, the extension means more financing, so somebody has to pay, so you cannot ask for unlimited time period," said Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras.
"Today a huge step has been made in order to secure the program on Greece, in order to enhance the confidence on the eurozone, in order to find a strong and definite solution for this question, which has lasted for more than two years now," said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, as he left the meeting of finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro.
The country has received about €150 billion of those loans so far, in exchange for making tough budget cuts and sweeping reforms to its labor market and bureaucracy.
[...] politicians sought to spin the meeting as having made some progress, especially after Greece pushed two tough bills through its parliament in recent days — one with a raft of reforms, the other with a stringent 2013 budget.
A draft report from Greece's creditors that was obtained by The Associated Press is short on such details.
"Since you are excluded from markets, the extension means more financing, so somebody has to pay, so you cannot ask for unlimited time period," said Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras.
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