After the European Union suggested that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should stop gambling with crisis-stricken Greece’s future and take the essential measures to unlock aid before the end of June in order to avoid a potential default, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation flew from Brussels to the US after it disclosed that there are still major differences with Athens. IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday: “There are major differences between us in most key areas.” In his effort to heighten pressure on the leftist Greek government, Rice also stated: “There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently and thus we are well away from an agreement.” Rice revealed that there is still disagreement over pensions, taxes and financing, and this is the reason the IMF technical team had already returned to the United States. He confirmed though that the IMF remains “fully engaged” with the Greek government in order to reach a profitable deal. European Stocks Trim Gains After IMF Leaves Greek Talks European stock markets sharply trimmed gains on Thursday after the IMF left the negotiation talks with Greece. The Stoxx Europe 600 index traded 0.2% higher at 391,56, down from an intra-day high of 395.55. Germany’s DAX 30 index was up 0.2% at 11,289.78, while France’s CAC 40 index gained 0.5% to 4,958.63. U.K.’s FTSE 100 index was slightly lower at 6,829.10. Greece’s Athex Composite Index closed at the time of the news, having ended 8.2% higher at 823.16.
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