Greek crisis: Eurozone ministers to discuss debt relief - business live

Crunch meeting will consider Greece's bailout progress today after MPs approved a a5bn package of austerity reforms

• Latest: Gabriel urges debt relief help
• Overnight: MPs approve austerity plan, despite protests
• Greek bonds are rallying
• Analyst: Early elections still possible
• The agenda: Crucial eurogroup meeting today

12.48pm BST

You can watch the arrivals in Brussels on the EbS service, here:

LIVE Eurogroup meeting Arrivals

12.47pm BST

Slovakia's finance minister, Peter KaA3/4imir, tweets that he expects a 'debate' on Greece's progress.

He was one of Athens' toughest critics during last year's bailout dramas.

En route to #Brussels to meet #Eurogroup colleagues and discuss progress made by #Greece, debate our way forward

12.38pm BST

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert has tried to pour cold water on hopes of a Greek debt relief deal today.

Nothing can be discussed until Greece has proved that its economic reforms are satisfactory, Seibert told a press conference this morning. More here

12.31pm BST

Back in Brussels, officials are getting ready for ready for talks on how to make Greece's debts more sustainable.

Euro zone finance ministers will start talks on Monday on how to reprofile Greek debt to make future annual servicing costs manageable for Athens despite opposition from Germany, which does not believe any relief isneeded, euro zone officials said.

The International Monetary Fund believes that Athens must get debt relief for its economy to develop and wants the discussions to focus on capping Greece's annual debt servicing costs at around 15% of GDP or less.

12.07pm BST

This sudden political crisis in Austria threatens to overshadow today's Eurogroup meeting.

Perhaps it might also encourage eurozone finance ministers to make some progress on Greece, to show populist voices that Europe can work.....

I willing to bet that Hans Jirg Schelling won't be asked about #Greece anymore at #Eurogroup doorstep.

two weeks before Presidentials in Austria: huge change in politics, Chancellor Faymann leaves, also as a leader of Social Demokrats #SPi-

12.03pm BST

More breaking news: Austria's leader, chancellor Werner Faymann, has just resigned.

Faymann had been under pressures from his party, the centre-left social democrats, to work with the far-right Freedom Party.

Breaking - Austrian chancellor Faymann resigns after far-right election debacle, AFP reporting from Vienna

Faymann says he didn't have enough support from his party anymore. Resigns as SPi- head too. #Austria

11.46am BST

Newsflash: The International Monetary Fund is urging Germany speed up its public infrastructure spending, and get more refugees into work.

More progress on structural reforms would revitalize potential growth and enhance the authorities' leadership at the European level in this area.

A more dynamic Germany would also benefit the still fragile economic recovery in the euro area.

11.29am BST

Today's meeting could be fiery, predicts John Springford of the Centre for European Reform.

#Brexit-watchers should pay attention to what happens in the Eurogroup on Greece today. IMF and Germany on collision course over debt relief

11.14am BST

We can usually rely on Pierre Moscovici, the European Commissioner for monetary union, for some upbeat quotes.

Not today, though. Moscovici has arrived at the eurogroup meeting without speaking to the press.

Moscovici and De Gundos also amongst the early #Eurogroup arrivals. No comment from either

No doorstep from @pierremoscovici ahead of the #Eurogroup.
That's kinda strange, as he almost always makes comments ahead of Eurogroups.

10.56am BST

France's finance minister, Michel Sapin, has arrived early for today's meeting. He sounds pretty upbeat:

'The best', says France's Sapin when asked what he expects from today's Greece #Eurogroup, perhaps optimistically

10.52am BST

German vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has urged eurozone finance ministers to start talks about Greek debt relief today.

"We must help the country to reduce its debt burden.....

That's why a step must finally be made at today's Eurogroup meeting in Brussels to move towards a situation where Greece doesn't have to fight every year again to get new loans in order to repay old loans."

#Greece Euro-group today, we expect very little to be resolved. Domestic political constraints in Germany still key

10.19am BST

Officials at the Greek finance ministry are insisting this morning that an agreement in principle has been reached on the core a5.4bn package of measures demanded by lenders.

One said:

"There is an agreement in principle [concerning] the contents of the review: the privatisations fund, Non Performing Loans, social security and tax [systems], indirect taxes".

"The protracted negotiations have been all about proving they are not traitors of the left. It is crucial that they now win this battle over extra [contingency] measures ". If not, they will probably do something out of the box like early elections."

9.59am BST

Finland's finance minister, Alex Stubb, is on his way to today's eurogroup meeting.

Wheels up for Brussels. Eurogroup on Greece. Looking for common solutions to common problems on #EuropeDay2016.

9.50am BST

Greek bonds are rallying this morning, as traders welcome the news that MPs approved fresh austerity measures overnight.

Money is flowing back into Greece's debt, pushing down the interest rate (or yield) that investors demand to hold the bonds. The yield on two-year Greek debt has fallen sharply to 9.4%, down from 10.2% on Friday.

"The vote in parliament is constructive and positive for the Eurogroup talks and that should help the decision to give Greece additional support," said

9.33am BST

This pie chart, from Bloomberg, shows how the IMF and European institutions now hold most of Greece's debt:

#Euro area to debate #Greece's 321 billion-euro problem https://t.co/A0vCcLtyj7 via @nchrysoloras pic.twitter.com/PuXrOi4iVp

9.32am BST

Robin Bew of the Economist Intelligence Unit also predicts trouble ahead:

#Greece passes reform plan, although contingency plan needed before bailout in bag. But implementation very hard. Trouble within few years

9.22am BST

Greece could soon be plunged into the uncertainty of another general election, fears analyst Wolfgang Piccoli of Teneo Intelligence.

He's worried that the two sides still haven't reached a decision on 'contingency measures' (fresh austerity) that would be implemented if Greece failed to hit the targets set by creditors.

While Athens insists on an automatic fiscal brake that would trigger across-the-board cuts, the institutions, and especially the IMF, consider this option neither credible nor sustainable. In contrast, they are calling for specific measures that should be legislated upfront and have an automatic trigger. While Tsipras' preference is to conclude the review as soon as possible, the nature of the contingency package could determine the fate of his government as it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to secure the required 151 votes. Conversely, Germany will be unwilling to discuss debt relief any further without a specific Greek contingency package with automatic triggers.

The risk of snap polls could increase significantly if the lenders decide to play hardball by insisting on a contingency package that Tsipras cannot either accept or get approved in parliament. The Eurogroup meeting scheduled for 24 May could offer the next opportunity for a deal.

9.16am BST

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has leapt on the protests in Athens last night, as proof that Britain should quit the EU:

Does Mr. Cameron really think the violent clashes in Athens last night represent peace?

The anti-democratic EU, far from bringing countries together, has divided Europe.

Failed Euro project has had a devastating impact on lives of citizens across Europe who have suffered at the hands of the EU nationalists.

8.57am BST

Here's our latest dispatch from Athens:

Related: Greek MPs approve toughest austerity measures yet amid rioting

8.56am BST

The Greek crisis is returning to centre stage on today, says Bloomberg.

Aid deliberations by its international creditors will signal whether the country faces a renewed period of political drift or wins some economic breathing space after six years of turbulence.

Greece's most influential creditors, Germany and the International Monetary Fund, remain deadlocked over the terms of Greece's bailout plan, which the IMF thinks is badly flawed but Germany says can't be changed.

The Eurogroup, as the committee of eurozone finance ministers is known, will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss Greece's fiscal strategy and the sustainability of its debts. A resolution of the deep differences isn't expected.

Eurozone officials said that the stalemate over the contingency measures made it unlikely that any agreement to close the first review will be reached at Monday's meeting.

Greece needs the additional bailout aid by July, when a3.5bn in debt comes due. The Greek government has sought to blame the IMF for the delays, and a senior Greek official said on Sunday that both the commission and the European Central Bank believed that Athens had done enough to close the review.

8.33am BST

There were familiar scenes in Athens last night as MPs gathered to vote on a a5.4bn package of budget cuts and pension reforms.

#Mitsotakis : You have deprived #Greece of 210.000 employment places when you drove the economy to recession. #greekparliament

#Mitsotakis : Your goal is middle class impoverishment in favour of tax evaders and financial nomenclature. #greekparliament

#Mitsotakis : You're not a Leftist, Mr #Tsipras , you're an opportunist. An opportunist that would do anything to sit on the PM chair.

We have an important opportunity before us for the country to break this vicious cycle, and enter a virtuous cycle.

After six years (of crisis), the Eurogroup will meet to discuss debt relief.

Some hours ago, #Greece's Parliament approved a pension and tax reforms' package - only thanks to the 153 votes of the ruling coalition MPs.

8.08am BST

Good morning.

The long-running, seemingly never-ending Greek debt crisis is back on the agenda.

Related: IMF threatens to pull out of Greek rescue