Greece to ask for credit extension

Athens will send a letter to Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem on Wednesday, requesting a six-month extension of its current credit plan until it reaches a new agreement with the EU's finance ministers, a Greek government spokesman said.

"We should extend the credit program by a few months to have enough stability so that we can negotiate a new agreement between Greece and Europe," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF.

European finance ministers and Greece are desperately trying to reach a deal amid speculation that Athens might be forced to leave the eurozone. Greece has until this Friday to request an extension to the bailout, Dijsselbloem announced after talks on Monday ended without success.

"They settle for saying 'We need more money now and we won't do anything anymore' and insult the others," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told ZDF, adding that Athens needed to tell the EU how it wanted to resolve its problems.

'No blackmail'

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Tuesday he was not willing to "accept psychological blackmail" and that his parliament would vote on a series of social reforms on Friday, which are to include free food, electricity and medical support for citizens.

"This is the debt we must repay first. We will not betray the Greek people's confidence," he said.

Greece's 240-billion-euro international bailout, which it received from the troika of international lenders - the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union - following the 2009 economic crisis, will expire at the end of February.

Tsipras has said he will stick to 70 percent of the current economic package deal, but that he wants to renegotiate the remaining 30 percent which he believes is damaging for ordinary Greeks.

mg/cmk (Reuters, AFP)