Merkel says Greece committed to resolve debt crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - Angela Merkel said Thursday, June 11, that Greece has committed to work intensively with international creditors in coming days to resolve outstanding issues holding up its access to vital bailout loans, the Associated Press reports.

The creditors have made clear that Greece must improve an offer of reforms it would introduce in exchange for 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in bailout loans it needs to repay debts due at the end of the month.

Merkel said that in overnight talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras a clear consensus emerged that "Greece will now work emphatically and at full steam with the three institutions in coming days to try to clear up all the outstanding issues."

Merkel expressed "hope that the necessary progress can now be made," and underlined that "each day counts."

In early trading, the Athens stock exchange was up 5.5 percent on hopes of an impending deal. European markets were up too, with the Euro Stoxx 50 index gaining 0.7 percent.

Tsipras plans to meet Thursday with Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Union's executive Commission, which is helping to supervise Greece's bailout program.

After his talks overnight with Merkel, Juncker and French President Francois Hollande, the Greek premier said: "We decided to intensify the effort to bridge the remaining differences."

The lack of progress in the negotiations over the past weeks has revived fears Greece could default on its debts and drop out of the euro, a move that would create huge uncertainty for Europe and global markets.

Piling new pressure on Athens, Standard & Poor's in New York downgraded Greece's credit rating one notch further into junk territory on Wednesday, saying it's likely the country will default on its commercial debt within a year if it can't strike a deal.

Another ratings agency, Moody's, noted that while Greece's problems were mounting, there appeared to be little impact on the markets of other eurozone states, even the economically weaker ones.

Finance ministers from the 19 nations using the euro currency will meet in Luxembourg next Thursday, less than two weeks before Greece's bailout program expires and it has a big debt repayment due.