Greece’s last-ditch letter to Eurogroup makes no concessions

A last-minute bid by Greece for an extension of its international bailout and a two-year funding and debt restructuring programme offers no concessions to creditors' demands for economic reforms, the text seen by Reuters shows.

The one-page letter from Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to the chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers of the eurozone says Greece is "fully committed to service its external debt in a manner that secures the viability of the Greek economy, growth and social cohesion."

But it made no mention of the conditions set by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund for releasing frozen aid to avert a likely Greek default later on Tuesday. Instead, Varoufakis cited legal grounds for requesting a two-year loan of an unmentioned amount.

"The loan will be used exclusively to meet the debt service payments of Greece's external and internal debt obligations," he wrote.

It was not clear whether that includes payment arrears to Greek government suppliers, civil servants and others.

"In conjunction with the loan, Greece requests that its EFSF (eurozone rescue fund) debt be restructured and re-profiled in the spirit of the proposals to be made by the European Commission in order to ensure that Greece's debt becomes sustainable and viable over the long term," the text said.

"Until this loan is agreed and in force, Greece requests for the program to be extended by the Eurogroup for a short period of time in order to ensure a technical default is not triggered," it added.

It made no mention of the leftist Greek government's plan to hold a referendum on Sunday and to urge Greeks to vote "no" to the creditors' bailout terms.

Attached to the letter was a table setting out Greece's maturing debt in 2015-2017, amounting to 12.335 billion euros this year, 7.191 billion in 2016 and 9.619 billion in 2017.

[Reuters]