By  — @natebro21 —  See Comments
Region: Published: February 2, 2015  Updated: February 2, 2015 at 4:04 pm EST

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Greece wants a break from the terms of its eurozone bailout loans, saying they’re suffocating its economy.

Germany, the biggest backer of two bailouts worth 240 billion euros (currently $271 billion), says Athens must pay what it owes.

The two sides, debtor and creditor, are dug in and posturing.

Yet analysts think a negotiated compromise over the coming weeks is possible — though far from certain. Greece could yet run out of money and leave the euro.

A workman carries an outdoor gas heater to be repaired past a mural in central Athens, on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. Murals have exploded in run-down parts of the capital over the past five years of financial crisis, during which incomes have fallen at least 30 percent and more than a quarter of the workforce is jobless. Greece's new finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, is continuing his tour of European capitals with a visit to London, after receiving backing from France for efforts to ease the terms of a 240 billion-euro ($270 billion) bailout.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris )

A Greek exit from the euro — or “Grexit” — would unleash more turmoil in Greece. Its effects on the eurozone and global economies are less clear. The eurozone has new safeguards to stabilize markets, but some experts think “Grexit” would disrupt Europe’s fragile economy and permanently undermine confidence in the 19-country currency union.

Time is pressing: Greece’s bailout program ends on Feb. 28. Rather than seek an extension, Athens wants to scrap the entire deal and agree on a new one by May.

via A guide to the debt standoff between Greece and the eurozone | UTSanDiego.com.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments