Dijsselbloem: Greece deal unlikely this week

Finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters before the Eurozone finance ministers meeting in Riga that reaching a deal with Greece is unlikely today. When asked about the prospect of reaching a deal soon, he replied “April is not over yet,” reports The Guardian. Dijsselbloem also told the press that there was a "great urgency" in reaching an agreement. “The deadline is more important for Greece, which is quite low on resources, than for other European countries,” he is quoted saying in NU. “So for Athens it is important that there is a deal soon.” In a new blog post published last night, the Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said that the gap between the two parties is “not unbridgeable”. “Our government is eager to rationalize the pension system, … proceed with partial privatization of public assets, … create a fully independent tax commission, and boost entrepreneurship,” Varoufakis wrote. He did not speak with the press before the meeting started. The German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble told journalists before the meeting that he was not expecting “decisive progress” today, but he wanted to hear the state of affairs from the Troika of bailout institutions, including the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. The Eurozone finance ministers gathered in Riga on Friday morning to discuss the deal between Greece and its major creditors. Europe expects Greece to present a satisfactory reforms plan in exchange for liquidity provision.