Greece racing to finalize reforms and remain in euro

Details of Greece’s reforms must be submitted today, giving time for creditors to review them ahead of a summit of the European Union’s 28 members set for Sunday.

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) – European shares rose on Thursday, supported by miners after a rally in metals and Chinese stocks, while some investors were betting Greece’s creditors will look positively at reform proposals and finally agree a debt deal. Hundreds of elderly Greeks lined up outside banks on Thursday morning.

The country failed to pay €1.6 billion to the International Monetary Fund on June 30.

“The general theme was one of acknowledging the improvement in the USA economy while saying more data is needed to confirm that policy objectives will be met”, said Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets United Kingdom.

The country is tightly controlling what funds it has left, as the European Central Bank froze emergency funding. The banks and the stock market have been shut for just as long. Customers are limited to ATM withdrawals of approximately $84 Cdn a day and require special permission to send money overseas. But in a snap referendum on July 5, Greek voters rejected it and the austerity measures it contained with 61 per cent of voters casting No ballots.

In the run-up to the weekend meetings, the mood music surrounding Greece appears to be getting more positive.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called in a speech to the European Parliament for a fair deal, acknowledging Greece’s historic responsibility for its plight, after EU leaders gave him five days to come up with convincing reforms.

A team of French experts was helping Greece prepare its crucial bailout reform plan for submission, Greek media reported. It came two days after the ECB raised the amount of collateral that Greek banks must post to obtain the loans.

Sunday has the feel of being a make-or-break date for Greece.

Even European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has made it clear Sunday would be the “right moment to make decisions” to avoid the Greek banking system meltdown.

He stressed a viable, long-term debt deal is required to ensure the country can “get onto the pathway of stability”. Germany, though, has resisted calls for debt relief without reforms.

European leaders restarted negotiations in an emergency summit to discuss Greece’s future.

“It becomes a win-win situation for everybody”.

But a senior EU official said it made sense for them to gauge the mood of their European partners and work out with the creditors what measures would be expected before putting a plan on the table.

Eurozone officials want Greece to rush a first wave of measures through parliament before Sunday to prove its serious intent. “Show you are a real leader and not a false prophet”, he said. The whole of the Mediterranean now finds itself in the wrong currency, and yet virtually nobody in the political arena has the courage to stand up and say that.

Banks remain closed across the country and ATMs have a daily withdrawal limit of 60 euros per card holder. Syriza’s plans would “tackle head-on the Establishment in our country and change the mindset which has taken us down”, he promised. And that could mean the collapse of its banks and the return of the country’s ancient currency, the drachma.

“We would be in unchartered waters”.

No other EU member has ever been forced out of the union in this fashion, says Anastassiadis, and it could spark a chain reaction or instill more uncertainty in the global economy.