'Grexident': Germany warns Greece could leave euro by accident - as it happened
- Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schiuble warns Greece could leave the euro by mistake and says the country must help itself out of financial crisis
- Merkel spokesman: no private feud with Greece
- Greek PM meets EC boss Juncker in Brussels
- Poll shows German public support for Greece is waning
- Russia cuts interest rates
- Pound hits 20-month low against dollar
2.50pm GMT
To recap: European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras met in Brussels today and called on European governments to show solidarity with Greece. Tsipras later said that his meetings had gone well ("today was a positive day").
Juncker said:
I'm totally excluding a failure. I don't want a failure. I would like Europeans to go together. This is not a time for division. This is a time for coming together.
As the responsibility, the possibility to decide what happens only lies with Greece, and because we don't exactly know what those in charge in Greece are doing, we can't rule out.
2.04pm GMT
The euro is now down more than 1% against the dollar at $1.05230.
1.07pm GMT
Tsipras just tweeted:
Joint statement earlier today in Brussels with @JunckerEU http://t.co/d0Qnf8vsxB #Greece #ChangeEurope
1.05pm GMT
It appears that Tsipras' meetings in Brussels have gone well. As we reported earlier, the Greek prime minister has been meeting with the European Commission's president Jean-Claude Juncker and European parliament president Martin Schulz. Tsipras expressed satisfaction with the meetings, saying "today was a positive day".
Tsipras has also briefed Syriza MEP Manolis Glezos on the work of his government.
We will succeed in living up to the expectations of the Greek society, the popular mandate and our oath to honour these fights and give popular sovereignty, independence and prosperity back to our country.
12.56pm GMT
Earlier, Greece's statistics service ELSTAT published its first estimate for GDP growth last year. It reckons the Greek economy grew by 0.8% in 2014, better than the 0.6% expected by Athens and its international lenders. A second estimate is due on 9 October.
12.18pm GMT
Over in Greece, the central government missed its budget surplus target in the first two months of the year because of a shortfall in tax revenues. The figure is not the one monitored by the troika of international lenders, but nonetheless indicates the (lack of) progress in the country's attempts to get its finances back on track.
The surplus came in at a1.2bn, below the a1.4bn target set out in Greece's latest budget. Tax revenues totalled a7.3bn, nearly 14% below the targeted a8.5bn, the finance ministry said.
12.05pm GMT
As just mentioned, Brent crude has dropped below $57 a barrel, and is currently trading down 63 cents at $56.45, a fall of 1.1%. Oil prices fell after the International Energy Agency said a global oil glut was building, with US oil output showing no signs of slowing. US crude lost almost a dollar, a fall of over 2%, to $46.06.
The IEA said:
US supply so far shows precious little sign of slowing down. Quite to the contrary, it continues to defy expectations.
The market will be more balanced in the second half, but there is still a massive oversupply in the first half. We still expect oil prices to fall in the coming weeks due to rising inventories.
11.57am GMT
Pulling away from the all-time high hit at the start of the month, Britain's top share index has slipped 0.2% to 6744.70 and looks set to notch up its biggest weekly fall so far this year due to a drop in utility stocks and commodity-related shares. The FTSE 100 index hit a record high of 6974.26 points on 2 March.
Utility shares, such as SSE and British Gas owner Centrica, were hit by the Labour party's pledge to bring down energy costs for consumers before the year is out if it wins the UK election on 7 May. Ed Miliband wants the energy regulator to use a proposed legal power to enforce an additional cut in annual fuel bills estimated to be worth 100 per household. Here is the story in full.
11.30am GMT
Following a week of heightened tension between the two countries, a spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed the idea of a feud with Greece.
Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin that Merkel's goal remained to keep Greece in the eurozone, and that responsibility for finding a solution to Greece's problems rested with the eurozone as a whole.
I neither see a private feud nor do I view the whole issue of Greece and how it solves its problems as a bilateral German-Greek topic.
10.55am GMT
The Russian central bank has cut its key lending rate for a second time this year.
Rates were cut to 14% from 15% as the bank signalled it is more concerned about a recession than high inflation.
10.42am GMT
Man of the moment Yanis Varoufakis has been photographed at his home in Athens for a piece in French magazine Paris Match.
The Greek finance minister is pictured with his wife Danae Stratou. Take a look at the gallery of pics here.
Mr & Mrs Varoufakis lifestyle photo op for @ParisMatch. White wine socialism under the Acropolis. pic.twitter.com/8q6lkMeYfk
10.30am GMT
The pound is down 0.3% against the dollar, at a 20-month low of $1.4834.
It is roughly flat against the euro at a1.3998.
10.12am GMT
The Office for National Statistics has published some weak numbers on UK construction output.
Official data indicated a steep downturn in UK construction activity at the start of the year, following a worryingly sharp decline in the fourth quarter of last year.
However, while there are signs that the sector is set to see a tougher year in 2015 compared to last year, survey data and corporate earnings suggest growth is merely slowing rather than collapsing.
9.39am GMT
The Greek PM said the problems facing Greece are the eurozone's problems and its partners in the single currency bloc should send a message of solidarity to his country.
Speaking in Brussels, Tsipras said:
Greece has already started fulfilling its commitments mentioned in the Eurogroup decision of 20 Feb so we are doing our part and we expect our partners to do their own.
And I'm very optimistic ... that we will find a solution because I strongly believe that this is our common interest. I believe that there is no Greek problem, there is a European problem.
9.29am GMT
The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is in Brussels today to meet the European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker.
I'm not satisfied with the developments in recent weeks. I don't think we have made sufficient progress.
I'm totally excluding a failure. I don't want a failure. I would like Europeans to go together. This is not a time for division. This is a time for coming together.
9.13am GMT
A new poll by the German TV channel ZDF shows that the German public are losing patience in Greece, with a growing number in favour of a Greek exit from the euro.
Asked whether Greece should stay in the euro, 52% said no, down from 41% in February.
Germans losing faith in #Greece: 52% say Greece shld leave the #euro (40% in Feb) vs 40% who say shld stay http://t.co/gLGme2pDns ~@ZDFheute
8.58am GMT
The euro is down against the dollar this morning after regaining some ground yesterday.
It is currently trading at $1.0606, down 0.3%.
Having seen European markets reap the benefits of a weaker euro this week, yesterday's rebound in the single currency prompted a little bit of a pause in upward momentum in European stocks and a slightly weaker session, though it won't be enough to prevent the DAX posting its ninth successive positive week in succession.
The FTSE100, on the other hand will probably post its second successive negative week in a row, such are the currency divergences being played out in global markets at the moment.
8.32am GMT
European markets have opened higher this morning, with Germany's DAX on course to post its ninth weekly rise in a row.
8.19am GMT
Schiuble - whose relationship with Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis appears to go from bad to worse - made a few other points in his interview with Austrian TV.
Schiuble & Varoufakis should take a 6 week break from statements about Greece & Germany. Not kidding.
Schaeuble not ruling out Grexit anymore - http://t.co/8ckMQqZOf2 pic.twitter.com/CZV4MeWQGv
#Germany's Schiuble says can't rule out '#Grexident.' Investors see #Grexit risk at 37%. http://t.co/AS6b5RseVV pic.twitter.com/Y6yWPV1ubr
7.58am GMT
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
As the responsibility, the possibility to decide what happens only lies with Greece, and because we don't exactly know what those in charge in Greece are doing, we can't rule out.
