Greek referendum: Germany says it won’t leave Greece in the lurch

German finance minister, Wolfgang Schiuble, appears to bolster No vote in last-minute intervention on Saturday

Investors around the world held their breath on Saturday as 10 million Greeks prepared to vote in a referendum that presents the biggest challenge to the euro since its adoption.

After more than five months of eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between Alexis Tsipras's radical left-led government and Greece's creditors, and with only hours to go before voting began, one of the most hawkish of the lenders appeared to blink. Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schiuble, until now even more of a hardliner than his chancellor Angela Merkel, suddenly turned a more conciliatory face towards Athens.

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