Greece sinks on the markets after the failed agreement with the Brussels Group and the postponement of payments to the IMF until the end of June. Mid morning the Athens Stock Exchange collapses by 4,5%, while interest rates on 10-year Greek government bonds they surge up to 11.402%, from 10.723% at yesterday's close. The yields on public bonds with maturity two academic years instead, they shot up to 24,589, from the 22.260 recorded yesterday at the close.
Between now and 19 June Greece should have repaid 1,6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund, but surprisingly Athens has chosen to postpone the payment of the entire sum to the end of the month, when the time available to find an agreement with international creditors will also expire, allowing the 7,2 billion installment of aid agreed in February to be released .
The postponement request, the IMF clarified, falls within the possibilities of the member states but indicates that the negotiations between the Greek government and international creditors still need time to reach an agreement.
Meanwhile Dimitris Stratoulis, Greek deputy welfare minister and exponent of the more radical wing of Syriza, used harsh words against the country's international interlocutors: “The creditors want to impose harsh measures – he said -. If they don't back down from this package of blackmail, the government will have to find workarounds, like the elections”. However, Stratoulis did not clarify whether his words represent a personal position or that of the government.
This afternoon the Greek premier Alexis Tsipras will report to Parliament in Athens on the state of the negotiations.
Anything but diplomatic the comment of the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, on the situation of the negotiations with Athens: "The Greeks, in particular Mr. Varoufakis, have really tired me," Schulz snapped during a talkshow on German television, Zdf.
Leaving this statement aside, Martin Schulz he also recalled that part of the responsibility goes to the previous Greek governments which squandered the possibility of a true rescue of the country. Schulz also said he didn't think it was possible for Greece to remain in the European Union if it were to choose to leave the euro: "Given the agreements, it's not possible otherwise," he said. For Schulz, the responsibility for bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion is now in the hands of Athens: “We went a long way to meet them. Now it's their duty to do the same."
