His expectation that a deal will soon be reached between Athens and its creditors expressed Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem earlier today. As he explained, Greece’s presence in the single currency is not only in the interest of Athens but also in the Eurozone’s. Dijsselbloem said Greece must meet its obligations and agreements if it wants to remain in the currency bloc, adding, though, that a Grexit is “not an option.” If Greece leaves “the Eurozone, you [would] get very dangerous instability,” he said in an interview to German broadcaster RTL. “It is in the interests of Greece and the Eurozone as a whole to avoid that,” he added. Three months after the January 25 elections the Greek government is still trying to exit a dead-end reached in negotiations with its international creditors. Athens is hoping to secure some seven billion euros of further aid in order to avoid the risk of running out of cash, although creditors insist it should present a complete and revised list of economic reforms before they greenlight the disbursement of fresh funds. “The money is starting to run out,” the Eurogroup President said. One day before the upcoming crucial meeting of Eurozone’s Finance Ministers to be held in Riga, Latvia, on Friday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Brussels, where he will present his leftist government’s plans to reform the country’s economy. In return, he hopes to secure the release of fresh bailout funds and prevent a Grexit. Although, as Dijsselbloem concluded, if Greece wants to remain in the Eurozone “it must meet certain conditions and agreements so we can reach a deal.”
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