AFP, Brussels :
Default by debt-wracked Greece loomed dangerously closer after last-ditch talks between Athens and its EU-IMF creditors collapsed yesterday, bringing the threat of a Greek exit from the euro closer than ever.
The crunch negotiations failed in their second day, heaping worry that the cash-starved Greek government was heading irreversibly into a financial abyss with a huge IMF debt payment due at the end of the month.
“They came with their hands in their pockets,” a furious EU source close to the negotiations told AFP, while Greek officials said the failure was the fault of the International Monetary Fund, the country’s most hardline creditor.
“The demands of the creditors are irrational, the discussions lasted 45 minutes,” an irate Greek government source said.
The deadlock drove the euro down in Tokyo morning trade Monday, with the single currency dropping to $1.1213 and 138.50 yen from $1.1260 and 138.92 yen in New York late Friday.
However analysts said it was unlikely the euro would take a plunge as investors were in a “wait-and-see mood”.
All sides had agreed that the talks were the last chance for Athens to unlock vital bailout cash in return for tough reforms that Greece’s 40-year-old Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras still doggedly refuses.
The IMF’s position was “intransigent and tough” because it was insisting on further pension cuts and a rise in value-added tax on basic goods, like electricity, the Athens source added.
Default by debt-wracked Greece loomed dangerously closer after last-ditch talks between Athens and its EU-IMF creditors collapsed yesterday, bringing the threat of a Greek exit from the euro closer than ever.
The crunch negotiations failed in their second day, heaping worry that the cash-starved Greek government was heading irreversibly into a financial abyss with a huge IMF debt payment due at the end of the month.
“They came with their hands in their pockets,” a furious EU source close to the negotiations told AFP, while Greek officials said the failure was the fault of the International Monetary Fund, the country’s most hardline creditor.
“The demands of the creditors are irrational, the discussions lasted 45 minutes,” an irate Greek government source said.
The deadlock drove the euro down in Tokyo morning trade Monday, with the single currency dropping to $1.1213 and 138.50 yen from $1.1260 and 138.92 yen in New York late Friday.
However analysts said it was unlikely the euro would take a plunge as investors were in a “wait-and-see mood”.
All sides had agreed that the talks were the last chance for Athens to unlock vital bailout cash in return for tough reforms that Greece’s 40-year-old Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras still doggedly refuses.
The IMF’s position was “intransigent and tough” because it was insisting on further pension cuts and a rise in value-added tax on basic goods, like electricity, the Athens source added.
