Grexit: European leaders gave debt-stricken Athens a final deadline of Sunday to reach a new bailout deal and avoid crashing out of the euro, after Greek voters rejected international creditors’ plans in a weekend referendum.
Greek leaders must submit detailed reform plans by Thursday to win the fresh bailout funds the country needs to stop its banking system from collapsing, EU President Donald Tusk said after an emergency summit of Greek and eurozone leaders. All 28 European Union leaders will examine the plans on Sunday in a make-or-break summit that will either save Greece’s moribund economy, or leave it to crash out of the single currency — a so-called ‘Grexit’.
“Tonight I have to say loud and clear — the final deadline ends this week,” Tusk told a news conference.”Inability to find an agreement may lead to bankruptcy of Greece and insolvency of its banking system,” he added.
The eurozone had expected Athens to submit fresh reform plans on Tuesday after Greeks voted by 61 percent to reject creditor demands for more austerity in return fresh EU-IMF bailout funds in an unprecedented referendum.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned “we have a ‘Grexit’ scenario prepared in detail” if no deal was reached, although he insisted he wanted Athens to stay in the single currency.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, warned Greece would need a debt programme lasting “several years” to revive its moribund economy and insisted writing off any of its 320-billion-euro ($350-billion) debt mountain was out of the question.
Athens given Sunday deadline to avoid Grexit
Source: yahoo