Rolling coverage of Greece’s debt talks, after Wednesday night’s meeting between prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Jean-Claude Juncker ends without a breakthroughTsipras will make new counter-offerKathimerini: Friday meeting calledMoscovici still confidentIntroduction: They talked a lot, and agreed on lessMinister: Creditors’ proposals don’t meet our expectations 12.00pm BST To no-one’s surprise, the Bank of England has voted to leave UK interest rates at their current record low of 0.5%. 11.55am BST Over in Greece, government MPs are feeling bruised after seeing Tsipras effectively given an ultimatum by creditors in Brussels.Paul Mason of Channel 4 News reports:They came, they saw, they had – as one Syriza MP put it to me last night – “their balls handed to them”. @BTabrum @paulmasonnews Veni Vedi Vasectomy?A 1 per cent budget surplus target for this year, in a shrinking economy, looks optimistic – but it is lower than the 3-4 per cent the previous government had been asked for.A two-tier VAT rise will raise money from the poorest off; but VAT has to rise in a country like Greece where assets are held offshore, and where getting businesses to pay corporation tax is a strategic problem, and does not balance the books short term. Continue reading...
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