Greece submits new bailout proposal ahead of deadline

Tax reform and pension-related measures may be included in offer as Greece makes bid for third bailout.

 

The cash-strapped country needs money to reopen its banks which have been closed for nearly two weeks [AP]

Greece has submitted a bailout proposal to its creditors ahead of a midnight deadline in a last-ditch bid to secure a third bailout package from the eurozone.
Michel Reijns, a spokesman for Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said late on Thursday in a tweet.

New Greek proposals received by #Eurogroup president @J_Dijsselbloem, important for institutions to consider these in their assessment

Details of the new plans were not immediately available, but debt-stricken Greece's creditors have demanded pension cuts and tax reforms in return for a new rescue package.
On Wednesday, the country's finance ministry said in a letter sent to the eurozone bailout fund that Greece was proposing "to immediately implement a set of measures as early as the beginning of next week including tax reform-related measures, pension-related measures".
The letter, signed by newly appointed Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, appeared aimed at giving Greece some breathing room to work out a new, broader bailout deal with its eurozone creditors.
Leaders of the 19-country currency zone gave Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras the deadline at an emergency summit on Tuesday, warning that failure to comply risked Greece's place in the euro.
Greeks overwhelmingly voted in a referendum on Sunday to reject previous austerity demands from international creditors in exchange for a new aid programme to replace the one that expired on June 30.
The cash-strapped country needs money to reopen its banks which have been closed for nearly two weeks, and eurozone leaders have warned that the European Central Bank will cut emergency funding if it does not reach a new deal.
The new reform proposals will now be scrutinised by officials of Greece's EU-IMF creditors, before going before eurozone finance ministers on Saturday and a full summit of all 28 European Union leaders on Sunday.
Greece's application letter on Wednesday to the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, called for a three-year programme but did not say how much money was needed.
Euphoria 'gone'
Al Jazeera's Simon McGregor-Wood, reporting from Athens, said much of the euphoria that followed Sunday's referendum, in which the Greek people overwhelmingly voted against accepting the eurozone's most recent proposal, had disappeared.
"It is replaced by real anxiety," McGregor-Wood said.
Our correspondent said many small businesses had lost faith in the banking system and were requesting cash.
"Away from the political posturing, the Greek economy is grinding to a halt," he said.