Monday, February 16, 2015

Greece talks fail after Athens rejects bailout extension

Talks in Brussels over Greece's debt crisis reached a deadlock on Monday after Greece rejected an offer to extend its bailout but under the same austerity conditions.

Officials from Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers as well as the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund now say it's up to Athens to take the deal before its 240 billion euro loan runs out in March.

Greece's leftist government swept to power last month on the promise of ending its loan program and accompanying austerity measures which have crippled the country's economy and driven unemployment.

But eurozone creditors say Greece must abide by the same rules for financial assistance that were handed to countries like Portugal and Ireland who faced similar debt problems after Europe's financial crisis.

Speaking after the meeting Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said his team was unable to accept a preliminary deal that continued a program he said has not worked for his country.

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