Athens is to submit a new proposal to eurozone authorities for a third bailout by early today after Greek negotiators stunned some eurozone finance ministers by arriving at their meeting without a revamped economic reform proposal.
But despite the apparently abortive start to what had been billed as a last-ditch effort to salvage Greece’s place in the eurozone, bloc officials said they drew some comfort from Euclid Tsakalotos, the new Greek finance minister, who made a strong presentation to his counterparts.
His intervention gave some hope that a deal could still be reached before Athens defaults on a €3.5bn bond payment owed to the European Central Bank in two weeks, considered to be the moment it crashes out of the euro.