Greece faces deadline for reaching deal with creditors and making €1.6bn IMF payment, otherwise it will lose €7.2bn bailout funds 7.54am BST As if the stakes were not high enough, Greece is threatening a court injunction against the EU institutions to block any exit from the eurozone, according to the Daily Telegraph:“The Greek government will make use of all our legal rights,” said the finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis. “We are taking advice and will certainly consider an injunction at the European Court of Justice. The EU treaties make no provision for euro exit and we refuse to accept it. Our membership is not negotiable,“ he told the Telegraph. 7.41am BST Good morning and welcome to yet another crunch day for Greece.The country faces a deadline to pay €1.6bn to the International Monetary Fund by the end of the day, at the same time as its bailout extension negotiated in February runs out. Related: Europe's big guns warn Greek voters that a no vote means euro exit The offer published on Sunday incorporated a proposal from Greece that would set value-added tax rates on hotels at 13 percent, rather than at 23 percent as originally planned in the lenders’ proposals. It was not immediately clear whether there would be any additional changes.If the offer were accepted, the euro zone finance ministers could adopt a statement saying that a 2012 pledge to consider stretching out loan maturities, lowering interest rates and extending an interest payment moratorium on euro zone loans to Greece would be implemented in October.In a sign that battle lines continue to be drawn EU leaders have turned Sunday’s proposed referendum into an in/out vote on Greece’s position in the euro, when it is clearly about the creditors proposal, but given that polls appear to suggest a majority of the Greek population would prefer to stay in the euro, it suits the narrative of the EU to peddle that particular line. In fact EU Commission President Juncker strayed a little too far into the realms of bad taste yesterday, urging the Greek population not to commit suicide by voting No, which in a country that has seen suicides soar as a result of EU policies, was crassly insensitive, and could well turn out to be a massive own goal, if the vote is indecisive. Maybe that explains last night’s late move to make a fresh attempt at trying to reach a deal by the EU Commission President, but in any event the deal was rebuffed by the Greek PM, with the only concession appearing to be on VAT for hotels being held down at 13%, instead of raised to 23%. Continue reading...
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