Eurogroup Rejects Greek Bailout Proposals

The Eurogroup on Tuesday rejected a Greek proposal for a two-year bailout plan.



The decision by the eurozone finance ministers leaves Greece with no choice but to default on its 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) obligation to the International Monetary Fund due on Tuesday.



There was no comment from the group following a teleconference to consider the latest Greek proposal. Another Eurogroup meeting is set for Wednesday when Greece intends to make further proposals, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.



Klaus Regling, chief of the European Financial Stability Facility, a crisis fund for Eurogroup members, said the rejection puts "the positive results of the [current bailout] program at risk."



He added that it was "regrettable" that Greece had no new bailout program in the pipeline.



Greece will run a referendum on its creditors' bailout proposals on Sunday.



Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel refused to discuss any new bailout requests until after Sunday's referendum.



"Before the referendum Germany can't negotiate a new request," Merkel said after a party meeting.



Merkel's response seemed to shut the door on Greece's last-ditch request for a bailout package even before the Eurogroup rejection of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras plan to access the eurozone's crisis bailout fund.



The fund can be distributed to a member state "if indispensable to safeguard the stability of the euro area as a whole."



On top of a two-year loan, Tsipras had asked the Eurogroup to extend the country's current bailout program "for a short period of time in order to ensure a technical default is not triggered."



He also asked for a plan to restructure Greece's debt. - Ankara