Greece’s international creditors are finalizing the text of a bailout agreement that they will present to Greece, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Top officials from European institutions and the International Monetary Fund have sent a draft of the economic reforms list Greece needs to implement in order to unlock further financial aid to the cash-strapped Greek government, according to the report, citing officials close to the talks. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde met on Monday evening in Berlin to hammer out the details of the proposal. Their meeting lasted until after midnight on Tuesday. The proposal will end the stalemate in talks that has lasted almost four months, leaving Greece out of cash and creditors out of patience. With its state coffers almost empty, Greece is on the brink of default to the IMF as it has a total of 1.6 billion euros due in loan repayments until the end of June. Also, June 30 marks the end of Greece’s bailout extension. If Greece does not accept the deal, it faces the risk of default and subsequent bankruptcy, something that might lead the country out of the euro zone. Several hard leftists within the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government are adamant that they would not vote for the deal in parliament if it contains any austerity measures that go against pre-election pledges. However, European officials familiar with the talks say the Greek government is showing more flexibility in private discussions with lenders on pensions and other difficult issues, signaling it knows it will have to make hard concessions. At the same time, Juncker said in a German newspaper interview published on Monday that a Greek exit from the euro “is not an option” in part because it would damage international faith in the currency, the Wall Street Journal report says. “There is no alternative to reaching an agreement with Athens,” said Martin Selmayr, Juncker’s chief of staff, “because the alternative would be even worse than to make compromises now,” he added.
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