Greece may have only three days left to arrange financing for its bond payment and avoid “outright default,” said Thomas Mayer, chief economist at Deutsche Bank.
“If they don’t have the money in the account at the time the payment is due, then they really default,” Mayer said today in a radio interview on “Bloomberg -- The First Word” with Ken Prewitt. “Time is of the essence. I think we have maybe one, maybe two, maybe three more days but that’s it.”
While the prime minister and party chiefs have agreed to make further cuts this year equal to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, they have yet to close gaps over measures demanded by creditors for the rescue. Unions, which went on strike yesterday, have derided the conditions as “blackmail.”
Greek Meeting Ends Without Conclusion: LAOS Head Refuses To Sign Deal
Bloomberg reports that at almost 1 am local time, the Greek government meeting has broken up, and the head of LAOS is speaking, and by the looks of things, is not going along with the program:
KARATZAFERIS SAYS HE DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO STUDY MEASURES
KARATZAFERIS SAYS HE NEEDS LEGAL ASSURANCES ON MEASURES
KARATZAFERIS SAYS HE MIGHT CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT DESPITE NOT AGREEING TO DEAL
KARATZAFERIS SAYS HE MADE HIS POSITIONS CLEAR EARLY IN MEETING
KARATZAFERIS SAYS HE APPRECIATES THE PREMIER'S EFFORTS
KARATZAFERIS SUPPORTED ND LEADER ON ISSUE OF PENSIONS
Translation: no deal. And, dum dum dum, another headlines says that the Troika is now back in Papademos' office. The suspense builds.