Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras “confident on deal” despite Syriza rumblings

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras will meet with European officials in Brussels today as part of the attempt to hammer out an agreement over his country’s debts.

 

 

The Greek government yesterday expressed confidence that the country’s parliament would approve a debt deal with lenders, despite an angry reaction from some of its own politicians who accused it of giving in to demands for more austerity.

 

Tsipras will meet with European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission.

 

Tsipras has offered a number of concessions, including tax hikes and increases to pension contributions, in a deal that received a cautious welcome from Eurozone leaders but received a furious reaction from some members of the ruling left-wing part Syriza.

 

Deputy parliament speaker and Syriza member Alexis Mitropoulos said the concessions were “not in line with the principles of the left” and would cause “social carnage”.

 

However state minister Nikos Pappas, who is one of Tsipras’ closest aides, said he was confident that the deal would get through.

 

“I assure you that the deal will be such that it will win the backing of the government majority and of the Greek people,” Pappas told a Greek TV channel.

 

Eurozone leaders said the new budget proposals from Athens on Monday were a basis for further negotiations to unlock billions of euros in frozen aid and avert a default next week that could lead to a Greek exit, known as a Grexit, from the single currency area.

 

Stock markets also cheered, with European shares extending the previous session’s sharp rally and climbing to a three-week high on hopes of a deal.

 

But the euro fell on fears the plan would struggle to win approval in the Greek parliament.