Times of Malta: European Central Bank keeps tight leash on Greece ahead of euro leaders’ summit

The finance ministers would then hold a conference call to discuss whether the request was viable.

“We have to assess the situation each time anew”. But other leaders, especially in powerful Germany, were taking a hard line, and many analysts still harbored deep doubts about Greece’s ability to stay in the eurozone.

French prime minister Manuel Valls has said that the basis for a deal with Athens was there. “It is a conception of the world”.

He spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the new proposals ahead of Tuesday’s hastily arranged emergency summit of the eurozone countries in Brussels.

Jean Claude Juncker for example mentioned that the European Union Commission had prepared the scenario of a Grexit in detail. “It starts in the coming hours, with the aim to conclude by the end of the week at the latest”.

In conclusion of its statement, the European Central Bank said that it is “closely monitoring the situation in financial markets” and stands ready to use “all the instruments available within its mandate”. “Is there, yes or no, a political will of the Greek government?”

“You know, there was a promise for today”. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite complained, “With the Greek government it is every time manana”.

“The stark reality is that we have only five days left …”

European Central Bank made the announcement as the country’s voters overwhelmingly rejected the terms of a rescue package offered by worldwide creditors last Sunday.

The country’s four major banks are said to have run out of cash.

The ECB has maintained its emergency liquidity lifeline for Greek banks, however it raised charges on collateral the banks require to present for funds, effectively devaluing the banks’ assets and making them less able to borrow against their collateral.

At some point, a default could force a decision on Greece’s euro access.

Indeed, most of the bailout money in 2010 was not used to lower Greece’s debt, it was used to bail out private creditors who should have known better and should have been forced to take haircuts.

At the meeting, Tsipras is expected to outline new proposals to a tough audience: seeking to convince European partners that Greece can be trusted to trim its spending, and get fresh bailout funds in return.

Should Greece decide to issue IOUs to pay its bills, it would be a measure that would only work for a week or two at the most, Mr. Nowotny said.

“The ECB’s hands are tied by rules”, the head of the Austrian central bank, Ewald Nowotny, told Austrian public broadcaster ORF earlier. The ECB has kept the emergency cash it supplies, via the Bank of Greece, at about €89 billion.

The government, meanwhile, has been slower than hoped in making the economy more competitive and selling state assets to raise money.

“We demand an agreement with our neighbors”, Tsipras said.