Cash-strapped Greece submitted a new reform plan to its EU-IMF creditors today as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned the lack of a deal would lead to the collapse of the eurozone.
The radical leftist Greek government is on the verge of default and needs an agreement to unlock 7.2 billion euros (USD 8.1 billion) in bailout cash before its international rescue package expires at the end of the month.
Athens and Brussels traded barbs over the weekend after Tsipras rejected a plan put forward by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker last week, but today Greece relented and sent in its counter-offer.
"The three insitutions are currently assessing these suggestions with diligence and care," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said, referring to the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, the three monitors of Greece's bailout.
Tsipras has requested a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of an EU-Latin American summit tomorrow to discuss the crisis.
Schinas would not indicate whether Juncker would take part in the meeting, saying Brussels had to study the new Greek plan first.
Last week the Greek premier testily rejected Juncker's "absurd" plan following a meeting with the EU executive chief,
Leading Juncker on Sunday to accuse Tsipras of failing to respect "minimal rules".
In an emotional interview published today, Tsipras said any failure to reach a deal would be a catastrophe for the 19-nation euro area.
"I think that is evident. It would be the beginning of the end for the eurozone," Tsipras told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Greece's five-year debt crisis surged back as an international concern in January after Tsipras's radical Syriza party won elections on a vow to end painful austerity measures made as part of the country's 240-billion-euro bailout since 2010.
The Syriza-led government has since been locked in a four-month standoff with its dissatisfied creditors. Greece has offered reforms on pensions, VAT and the country's primary surplus, but has also demanded debt relief and insisted on its own social programmes.
Last week Greece was forced to bundle up a 300 million euro payment to the US-based IMF until the end of June, when a total of 1.6 billion euros will be due, making it the first country since Zambia in the 1980s to choose that option.
