ATHENS: Greece’s finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Monday said he was “confident” that an upcoming eurozone meeting would reach a “good solution” on debt relief, whilst calling on creditors to end their “procrastination”.

“We’re looking for a good solution. We’re not looking for a perfect solution. I’m confident we’ll get a good solution,” Tsakalotos told reporters in reference to the June 15 meeting.

“The pressure is on all sides...don’t procrastinate at the cost of the Greek economy,” Tsakalotos said.

“We are getting close to the time when a decision needs to be taken,” he added.

Greece’s debt mountain stands at a towering 179 per cent of annual output, the legacy of a crisis that brought panic to the markets and nearly forced the country out of the euro.

A deal granting Greece debt relief and labelling its debt sustainable — seen by Athens as essential to boost recovery — has been held up by disagreements between the International Monetary Fund and European creditors led by Germany on Greek fiscal targets.

Germany has an election in September and the German public is hostile to more financial support for Athens.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2017