Rolling coverage of Greece’s debt drama, as prime minister Alexis Tsipras prepares to address parliament tonightBond yields jump, shares slideEconomy minister: We have no mandate for Grexit...... but we could have paid the IMFMinister: We’ll hold elections if creditors don’t drop demands Introduction: Greece won’t repay the IMF today 9.25am BST Over in Athens, there is mounting anticipation over the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ speech before parliament tonight, reports Helena Smith.“And all of us are going to be glued to our screens,” “What he wants to show is that the entire Greek parliament is opposed to the proposal, that’s the message he wants to send lenders.” 9.12am BST The Athens stock market has fallen by over 3% in early trading.Financial shares are among the big fallers, with Piraeus Bank, National Bank of Greece and Eurobank all shedding at least 5%. 8.52am BST Greek government bonds are tumbling in value this morning.Investors are rushing to sell, following the decision to delay today’s €300m IMF repayment.#Greece's 2y yields jump as Tsipras raises stakes in Greek showdown w/ deferral of IMF payment http://t.co/JOjHPwIyUW pic.twitter.com/ugV9HJxDxQ 8.46am BST Here’s another key quote from Greek economy minister George Stathakis on the Today Programme this morning:“We are looking forward to getting a deal as soon as possible.The Greek government cannot accept these new proposals put on the table.” 8.41am BST Economy Minister Stathakis: Greece will do everything it can to stay in the euro and change terms of debt agreement: pic.twitter.com/hJOVpiP2Rw 8.30am BST Theodoros Fessas, the president of The Association of Greek Industries, is also speaking on Radio 4’s Today Programme.He says the demands being made by Greece’s creditors are “quite high”, and contain “harsh” measures. All the past governments have not been efficient or effective at collecting taxes. 8.27am BST Today Programme: What happens if Greece cannot get its way with creditors? Would you compromise, or leave the euro?We do not have a mandate to leave the eurozone, economy minister George Stathakis replies. He explains that Syriza campaigned on a platform of getting a new deal with creditors, within the single currency.We have a mandate from the Greek people to go on, to try to change the terms of the agreement.Greece has to remain in the euro, otherwise we do not have any mandate to take action.Greek economy minister tells BBC will stick to mandate given Syriza by voters; remains committed to stay in euro. #eurogroup @tsipras_euGreek Economy Minister on BBC Radio 4 right now - Syriza govt has no mandate to take Greece out of the Eurozone. 8.27am BST GREEK ECONOMY MINISTER GEORGE STATHAKIS SAYS GREECE CANNOT ACCEPT NEW PROPOSALS PUT ON TABLE BY LENDERS 8.21am BST George Stathakis says that the Greek government is not prepared to accept the proposals tabled by its creditors this week (when Alexis Tsipras met Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on Monday night). He cites the primary surplus targets which lenders are pushing for (including a 1% primary surplus this year; Greece believes only 0.6% is achievable). 8.18am BST Greece’s economy minister, George Stathakis, is now on the Today Programme.Why has Greece chosen to delay its IMF repayment?There was an offer already on the table from the IMF, so I think the government chose to accept this offer and repay at the end of the month.That is correct. 8.14am BST The BBC’s European Editor, Katya Adler, has also heard that Greece had the money to repay the IMF today, but chose not to (as our Helena Smith reported last night).Adler is telling the Today Programme now that the delayed repayment is being seen as a political jesture:It is being seen as Greece saying to the international creditors, don’t push us, we’d rather snap than bend. 8.10am BST As feared, Europe’s stock markets are being hit by Greek worries. The FTSE 100 has dropped by 35 points at the start of trading, to 6824, which I think is a one-month low. More to follow..... 8.08am BST Greece’s economy minister, George Stathakis, is about to discuss the situation on Radio 4’s Today Programme. You can hear it live here. 8.04am BST Despite the turmoil of recent years, most Greeks still want to remain in the eurozone:#Greece Opinion poll for newsit.gr: Greeks want to remain in the eurozone at all costs http://t.co/YX7NT5fP2m pic.twitter.com/JaTVdNd3bv 7.54am BST Greece’s deputy social security minister, Dimitris Stratoulis, has warned that early elections could be called unless its lenders soften their demands.Stratoulis said this morning:“The lenders want to impose hard measures. If they do not back down from this package of blackmail the government ... will have to seek alternative solutions, elections”.Opinion poll from #Greece shows 37% of Greeks favour elections while 45% want compromise for a deal with lenders. (RTRS)Alco poll for Newsit.gr SYRIZA 31.3% ND 20.4 Potami 5.2 G Dawn 4.8 KKE 4.5 PASOK 3.5 Ind Greeks 3.2 Undecided 13.4 #Greece 7.48am BST Good morning.The Greek crisis is coming towards the boil today, following Athens’ unexpected decision not to pay the International Monetary Fund a €300m repayment due today.Greece has moved closer to default and possible exit from the eurozone after telling the International Monetary Fund it would not be making a debt repayment of €300m (£219m) due on Friday.A crisis that has been going on for more than five years entered a new phase when Athens surprised the IMF by saying it intended to bundle up four payments in June totalling €1.6bn and make them all at the end of the month. Related: Greece moves closer to eurozone exit after delaying €300m repayment to IMF “We have enough for the payment but Tsipras wants to save up for salaries and pensions.” “She’s annoyed that we reassured her earlier and was taken by surprise. “The Bank, however still expects a positive reply tomorrow.” Greece = 1970s Zambia thanks to request to IMF to defer paymenthit pause on the second-guessing over #greece's talks with its creditors until greek pm @atsipras briefs parliament at 6pmWhile optimism had been growing that progress had been made in negotiations between Greece and its creditors, it’s clear there is still a long way to go and some of that optimism might have been a little unfounded. Continue reading...
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