World

Greece crisis deepens amid deadlock

June 25, 2015 6:25 pm

Greece and its international creditors remain in deadlock over its debt crisis despite a series of top-level meetings.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras failed to reach a deal with Greece’s lenders, then a meeting of European finance ministers broke up without progress.

The Athens government faces default if it fails to make a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) IMF debt repayment by Tuesday.

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As EU leaders met in Brussels, Germany’s Angela Merkel warned that talks were going nowhere.

We still haven’t made the necessary progress; in some places it looks like we’re even going backwards," she told reporters.

If Greece does default, it could exit the eurozone, with possible repercussions for the rest of Europe and the world economy.

Only once agreement is reached will the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unlock the final €7.2bn tranche of bailout funds for cash-strapped Greece.