Angela Merkel and Jean-Claude Juncker seek to justify their Greek bailout deal, but what kind of family asset-strips one of its members in broad daylight?The seemingly indestructible Angela Merkel can go without sleep, and still manage a half smile and speak about Greece’s wish to remain in “the euro family”. This may sound reasonable and pleasant. All families have their little local difficulties, don’t they? But they work through them. People see reason. When they are forced to.By infantilising Greece, Germany resembles a child who closes its own eyes and thinks we can not see it. We can. The world is watching what is being done to Greece in the name of euro stability.Related: Grexit may have been avoided, but divisions in Europe are growing | Mary Dejevsky Continue reading...

Greece and its eurozone creditors have reached a deal after all-night talks, but can we trust the decisions and deals of sleep-deprived politicians?The Greek government and its eurozone creditors have reached a deal after marathon all-night talks, but can we trust the decisions and deals of sleep-deprived politicians?Were the negotiators sleep deprived?Journalist takes picture of cameraman filming journalist sleeping pic.twitter.com/0TKfVl2SSPThe improvement of workers’ safety, hygiene and health at work is an objective which should not be subordinated to purely economic considerations.All workers should have adequate rest periods. The concept of ‘rest’ must be expressed in units of time, i.e. in days, hours and/or fractions thereof. Community workers must be granted minimum daily, weekly and annual periods of rest and adequate breaks. It is also necessary in this context to place a maximum limit on weekly working hours.Research has shown that the human body is more sensitive at night to environmental disturbances and also to certain burdensome forms of work organisation and that long periods of night work can be detrimental to the health of workers and can endanger safety at the workplace … Night workers whose work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain do not work more than eight hours in any period of 24 hours during which they perform night work.

Talks stall on two points: IMF involvement in a new three-year bailout and a German demand for Greece to give up €50bn in public assets as collateralA marathon overnight negotiation between Greece and its creditors remained unresolved on Monday morning after European leaders confronted Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, with a package of austerity measures which entailed a surrender of fiscal sovereignty.A weekend of high tension that threatened to break Europe in two climaxed on Sunday at a summit of eurozone leaders in Brussels where the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, François Hollande, presented Tsipras with an ultimatum.Related: Greece debt crisis: talk of compromise proposal as summit nears end – liveRelated: #ThisIsACoup: Germany faces backlash over tough Greece bailout demands Continue reading...

Markets in Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo all positive even as eurozone leaders struggled for a deal with indebted GreeceAsian markets rose on Monday while the euro was marginally lower as European leaders struggled to hammer out a debt reform deal to keep Greece in the eurozone, with a source saying a compromise had finally been found.

Survey of UK’s 350 biggest firms finds just 3% think Britain leaving the EU would be positive for their businesses but most are reluctant to speak out publiclyA majority of companies believe a British exit from the EU could harm them but only 7% would be willing to speak out publicly against “Brexit”, according to a survey of FTSE-350 firms.The latest barometer of boardroom sentiment by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) draws parallels with last year’s referendum on Scottish independence, when many businesses waited until close to the vote to voice their views.Related: EU referendum: Cameron in uncharted territory as he lays out UK demands Continue reading...

Faced with lending conditions so severe that one wonders if Germany intends it to leave the euro of its own accord, Greece and its PM are facing a terrible choiceIt comes down to this: Greece has until Wednesday to pass into law draconian new austerity measures or leave the single currency. Months of fruitless talks, all the midnight oil burned in the seemingly never-ending cycle of summits, have ended with a simple message to Alexis Tsipras and his leftwing government: stay on our terms or walk. You decide.It’s a terrible choice for Tsipras. The conditions being attached to a third Greek bailout are beyond harsh. There will have to be tax increases, pension reforms, privatisation and spending cuts previously rejected by Athens, all overseen by the troika of the European Central Bank, the European commission and the International Monetary Fund.Related: Greek crisis: surrender fiscal sovereignty in return for bailout, Merkel tells TsiprasRelated: Eurozone crisis: which countries are for or against Grexit Continue reading...

Greece’s two biggest creditors are divided on whether to expel it from the eurozone, with France dismissing Germany’s talk of an ultimatumRelated: Eurozone crisis: which countries are for or against GrexitThe Greek crisis has pitted Athens against the rest of the eurozone. But Germany’s proposal for Greece to leave the euro has portended a deep split between two key creditors of the indebted country.Related: 'Our children will grow up in a destroyed country' – Greeks fear for the future Continue reading...

German and French leaders press Greek leader for guarantees over austerity measures in what an EU official describes as ‘extensive mental waterboarding’European leaders have confronted the Greek government with a draconian package of austerity measures entailing a surrender of fiscal sovereignty as the price of avoiding financial collapse and being ejected from the single currency bloc.A weekend of high tension that threatened to break Europe in two climaxed on Sunday night at a summit of eurozone leaders in Brussels where the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and President François Hollande of France presented Greece’s radical prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, with an ultimatum.Related: Greece debt crisis: Athens fights against temporary Grexit plan - liveRelated: Greeks resigned to a hard, bitter future whatever deal is reached with Europe Continue reading...

With an emergency voting procedure potentially coming into play as eurozone splits widen, how do member states line up on the idea of expelling Greece?

Multinationals were probably waiting for result of British referendum on EU before deciding where to locate, says head of Irish investment authorityGlobal corporations will think twice about investing in the UK while uncertainty reigns over Britain’s European Union membership, according to the head of the Irish state body that has attracted Apple, Microsoft and Google to Ireland.Appealing to the UK to remain within the EU, Martin Shanahan, chief executive of the Republic’s Industrial Development Authority, said “it would be naive” if overseas investors were not factoring in the possibility of the British leaving the EU when deciding where to locate new factories and plants.

Alexis Tsipras remains hopeful for compromise but opinion is divided as France seeks agreement but Germany retains tough stance in climate of bailout mistrustEuropean leaders have started emergency talks in Brussels that could prove decisive for Greece’s future in the eurozone, amid signs of a split between the country’s creditors.Although billed as the last chance to secure “the ultimate agreement” on the Greek debt crisis, a grand political bargain to keep Greece in the eurozone are far from assured. Continue reading...

Bank of England governor to appear before MPs after raising concerns about threat to UK from eurozone crisis, over-leveraged banks and weaker growth

The extraordinary recent boom-bust trading pattern appears to have been halted, but China’s growth model has to change and become less reliant on investmentThe numbers are mind-boggling. Ten days of falls on the Shanghai stock exchange resulted in losses that exceeded the GDP of Mexico. And 12 million Chinese citizens who opened share-trading accounts in May were nursing potentially ruinous losses. Margin trading – speculating on the stock exchange with borrowed money – increased five-fold in a year to 2.3tn yuan (£230bn).While Europe’s focus has been the crisis in Greece, the Chinese stock market has been gripped by panic. The value of shares went up by 150% in little more than a year, then fell by 50% in just a few weeks. Continue reading...

In recession since 2006, the island is grappling with supermarket items 21% higher than the US average – even as 41% live in povertyPuerto Rico is in a severe fiscal crisis due to its $72bn in debt, which its governor recently declared was “not payable”. It has been in recession since 2006, with a generally contracting economy creating an unemployment rate of about 12-13% compared to the US rate of 5.5% and about a 41% poverty rate compared to the US’s 14.3%. While the island is dotted with US chain stores like Walmart and Walgreens – amounting to the largest concentration of those stores in the world – residents face high costs for many necessities, while earning a remarkably low per capita income of about $19,000 per year, half the US average.

Pressure building on Merkel and Hollande as currency bloc’s leaders enter last-chance summit amid cancellation of wider EU talksGreece debt crisis: EU leaders’ meeting cancelled with no deal in sight - liveEurope braced itself for its most fateful day in years on Sunday as presidents, prime ministers, and chancellors congregated in Brussels for a summit to decide whether Greece remains in the euro single currency.Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, cancelled an emergency full summit of the 28 countries that was to deal with the fallout from Greece’s ejection, in order to give eurozone leaders a last chance to reach an accord saving Greece and forestalling what would be a devastating schism sowing deep resentment and division between Europe’s leaders. Continue reading...

MPs will not accept any new bailout deal for Greece, public broadcaster Yle says, meaning ministers’ hands are tied in crunch Brussels negotiationsFinland’s parliament has decided it will not accept any new bailout deal for Greece, media reports said Saturday, piling on pressure as eurozone finance ministers tried to find a way out of the impasse.

The chancellor delivered a budgetary masterclass in how to dish your opponents and discomfit your rivalsThe envy of rivals is the highest compliment that is paid to political success. Since George Osborne delivered his budget to a rapturous reception from Tory MPs, Boris Johnson has been wearing the tortured smile of a man who has swallowed a wasp and is trying to look happy about it. He was compelled to laugh along when he was the butt of a joke in the chancellor’s speech. He had to pretend to approve when a national living wage, one of his pet causes, was appropriated by his competitor for the Tory crown, as the chancellor sought to divert attention from the scythe he was taking to in-work benefits. Overall, the backbencher for Uxbridge and the rest of the Tory party were given a masterclass in what a powerful chancellor can do to disorient his external opponents, eclipse his internal enemies, set the political weather and promote himself.Interestingly, the green-eyed monster can also be glimpsed at Number 10. Friends of the prime minister sound a little put out that so many plaudits have been showered on the next-door neighbour. They want to establish some ownership of the budget for the prime minister. One of his allies is keen for it to be known that “they built it together from the ground up”. David Cameron may also be getting irritated when he hears people say – and this is often said by ministers – that the next-door neighbour is the most powerful man in government. Continue reading...

After two world wars, a mere currency must not be allowed to derail a grand European project that has been decades in the makingThe seemingly endless eurozone crisis is coming to a head, but it won’t be completely over in the near future. In the meantime, it has unquestionably precipitated the most serious challenge to the idea of a unified Europe since the Second World War. The common currency, which was dreamed up to drive integration forward, has become a source of strain that threatens to tear apart the eurogroup and mortally weaken the EU itself. It is therefore not surprising that many people see this – for good or bad – as an existential struggle for the soul of Europe.Whatever happens with Greece, the way its debt has been fought over during the past five years has revealed the shallowness of any sense of political solidarity across the continent and the limited legitimacy of the EU’s political institutions. The Greeks complain about German meanness, the Germans about Greek profligacy; the French and Italians are driven by the worry that if Greece goes they may be next; while across eastern Europe people are asking why their money should go to prop up a standard of living in Athens that remains several notches higher than their own. Continue reading...

The chancellor of the exchequer claims he wants to double exports by 2020, but his budget gives little indication as to how that might happenIncomes per head in the west have grown by broadly 40 times over the past 250 years. Economic historians compete with each other for explanations, though none but the very idiosyncratic argues that the key determinant was tight control of the national debt . Rather, the driver is a combination of institutions, rule of law and competition that best fosters human beings exploiting the astonishing and unfolding fruits of science, technology, ingenuity and innovation.In this context, George Osborne’s simultaneously much lauded and deplored “big budget” last week is largely irrelevant, if not actively unhelpful. His book-keeper’s obsession with boxing the economy and society into whatever shape will best deliver a budget surplus by the end of the decade while preserving as much party advantage as possible will damage the country he purports to serve. Lower tax and lower welfare may be desirable for ideological purposes, but any linkage they may have with high wages, greater productivity or investment is at best indirect, at worst, barely existent. Mr Osborne is selling both party and country a false prospectus. Continue reading...

Finance ministers will resume talks on Sunday morning after failing to reach agreement tonight on Greece’s request for a third bailout

Whatever happens in Athens and Brussels to resolve the Greek crisis, Germany’s chancellor faces growing criticism at homeOn Friday night, millions of Germans sat down to watch the TV political comedy The Icedancer, about a German chancellor whose husband whisks her away on holiday to escape the stress of conflict in Ukraine and the Greek crisis. On the way to catch their train, she is knocked on the head by a falling signpost and wakes believing she is living in the runup to the fall of the Berlin Wall.It’s unlikely that Angela Merkel would wish to return to the cold war era. But the chance to turn the clock back to a time before the Greek euro crisis dominated her chancellorship is something she might have relished this past week. The German leader has faced the biggest test of her almost decade-long tenure in the days leading up to last night’s dramatic debate on whether to bail Greece out again or to cut it loose from the eurozone. Continue reading...

Shops and cafes are nearly deserted and small firms are shedding jobs. Now business owners fear there are only two choices: more austerity, or a brutal existence outside the eurozoneGreece has become so gloomy that even escapism no longer sells, the editor of the celebrity magazine OK! admits. “All celebrity magazines have to pretend everything is great, everyone is happy and relaxed, on holiday. But it is not,” says Nikos Georgiadis.Advertising has collapsed by three-quarters, the rich and famous are in hiding because no one wants to be snapped enjoying themselves – and even if OK! did have stories, a ban on spending money abroad means it is running out of the glossy Italian paper that the magazine is printed on. Continue reading...

Drama in Athens reflects a bigger truth: precarious countries across the globe owe trillions of dollars to lenders and investors who must be repaidWith its shuttered banks, furious public protests and iconoclastic politicians, the plight of Greece, brought to its knees by a crippling debt burden, has been gripping and heartbreaking in equal measure: a full-blown sovereign debt crisis on the doorstep of some of the wealthiest countries in the world.Yet new analysis by the Jubilee Debt Campaign reveals that Greece’s plight is far from unique: more than 20 other countries are also wrestling with their own debt crises. Many more, from Senegal to Laos, lie in a debt danger zone, where an economic downturn or a sudden jump in interest rates on world debt markets could lead to disaster. Continue reading...

External debts and war have pushed Kiev to the brink while the Caribbean island is suffering because of terms of trade engagement with the USGreece is not the only place in the world that is close to bankruptcy: Ukraine and Puerto Rico are also in serious trouble. Ukraine is now under the wing of the International Monetary Fund while Puerto Rico, a US territory that must get past the US Congress to deal with its creditors, is in freefall. Continue reading...

IMF chief Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup ministers express concerns about Greek ability to deliver on promised reformsTalks aimed at preventing Greece from leaving the eurozone and collapsing into bankruptcy are on a knife-edge amid widespread scepticism from the country’s creditors about whether Athens can deliver on its promises.

The 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the austerity crisis in Greece, the Tour de France – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week Continue reading...

Despite a big parliamentary vote in favour of a deal with its creditors, Greece could be cut loose if it fails to win over EU leaders at a weekend of summits

Athens has submitted a package of tough spending cuts and tax rises in an attempt to reach a €53.5bn bailout and avoid Grexit.

Debt restructuring has always been our aim in negotiations – but for some eurozone leaders Grexit is the goalGreece’s financial drama has dominated the headlines for five years for one reason: the stubborn refusal of our creditors to offer essential debt relief. Why, against common sense, against the IMF’s verdict and against the everyday practices of bankers facing stressed debtors, do they resist a debt restructure? The answer cannot be found in economics because it resides deep in Europe’s labyrinthine politics.In 2010, the Greek state became insolvent. Two options consistent with continuing membership of the eurozone presented themselves: the sensible one, that any decent banker would recommend – restructuring the debt and reforming the economy; and the toxic option – extending new loans to a bankrupt entity while pretending that it remains solvent.Europe did not know how to respond to the financial crisis. Should it prepare for an expulsion (Grexit) or a federation? Continue reading...

The chancellor’s budget was not about caring for the poor but wooing those who like to think they carePerhaps it’s unwise to admit it, but one of the challenges during a budget speech is to stop your mind from wandering. Even an address of astonishing political audacity – as George Osborne’s was – has its longueurs, its moments when the stats are coming in such a blizzard, the borrowing projections merging with the annual growth percentages, that the brain, briefly blinded, looks elsewhere.On Wednesday, mine wandered to Philadelphia. Not the city itself, but rather the Republican national convention held there in 2000. They gathered to anoint George W Bush as their nominee and laid on a spectacle that had one striking feature. Though only 4% of the delegates in the hall were black, one headline speaker after another was either African-American or from some other identifiable minority.Related: George Osborne took 'much more from the poor' in budgetOsborne has co-opted a halo brand that is not his – the living wage Continue reading...

Social Democrats mostly support Alexis Tsipras’s latest plan, but the chancellor faces mutiny within her own conservative ranks over a third bailout for GreeceGermany’s ruling coalition appears to be deeply split over Greece’s latest reform proposals ahead of a climactic meeting of EU leaders at the weekend.While senior Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, welcomed the list of concessions from the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, members of her own conservative bloc were scathing about Greece’s position.Related: Eurozone crisis: Greek austerity plans meet warm but cautious responseRelated: Tsipras rattled his sabre until it was blunt – and for what?Related: Greek debt crisis: What's in the proposals from Athens? Continue reading...

On the subdued streets of Athens, Greeks accept that their PM Alexis Tsipras had little choice but to make €13bn offering to creditorsGreeks who turned out in their millions to reject austerity last week seemed more resigned than angry on Friday about the government’s punishing last-minute offer to its creditors of €13bn of cuts and savings.Related: Greek debt crisis: Tsipras urges MPs to back bailout plan - liveRelated: Greeks facing day of judgment in struggle to stay in eurozone Continue reading...

As share prices rebound to record best two days since 2008, there is debate among analysts about whether the government’s action was too heavy handedAs the east coast of China was put on high alert for the approach of super-typhoon Chan-hom, it was not clear whether the financial storm that has rocked the country’s stock markets had blown itself out.Share prices rebounded to record their best two days since 2008, but many individual investors would still have been nursing big losses after the Shanghai Composite Index plunged nearly a third since its mid-June peak.It is a running joke that no one starts their real job until 3pm, when the markets closeRelated: Why is China's stock market in crisis? Continue reading...

Americans already work more than our European counterparts, but the former governor wants to enact policies to force people to work even more hoursRelated: Jeb Bush says Americans ‘need to work longer hours’ to earn moreFormer governor Jeb Bush’s announcement this week that he thinks people should work more hours puts him in direct opposition to the two leading contenders on the Democratic side – both of whom are pushing proposals that will allow people to work less. This could mean that 2016 will be an election in which work hours play a central role.

After five months of negotiations, and a dramatic referendum rejecting the demands of the country’s creditors in the EU institutions and the IMF, the Greek government has produced a set of proposals with which it hopes to find agreement in Brussels. We look at where they differ from the point at which negotiations were abandoned nearly a fortnight ago Continue reading...

Our current 20% tax rate is the lowest of the G7 countries. The money would be better spent on preserving public services that benefit citizens and businessWednesday’s budget in some ways typifies the tensions between corporate welfare and social welfare. Tax credits are a good example of a provision that falls into the categories of both corporate welfare (in that they act as a wage subsidy for employers) but also social welfare (in that they provide essential support to low-income families).Increasing wages at the lower end is good for low-paid workers, and it has the advantage of reducing the cost of in-work benefits and, potentially bringing in higher tax revenues. But it’s also likely to force up the cost of the wages bill for employers. Thus employers and employees alike are likely to lose out in the short term. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed yesterday, the new “living wage” will fail to compensate low-income workers from the cut in tax credits. Those who face the biggest barriers to work – the sick and disabled, and those with more than two children – exactly the types of families for whom wage supplements were originally devised, are set to be the biggest losers. Continue reading...

Finance ministers receptive to package laid out by Alexis Tsipras, who faces greater challenge in getting MPs in Greece to back his proposalsEurozone finance ministers are poised to offer their tentative backing for Greek bailout proposals, after Athens caved in to creditor demands for further austerity measures in return for the promise of limited debt relief.

Five months of brinkmanship has caused untold damage to the Greek economy for no purpose whatsoeverPart tragedy. Part farce. No happy ending. The final stages of the Greek drama have begun.The tragedy is that there is no end in sight to the suffering of the Greek people. They have seen their country’s economy shrink by 25% in five years and it was already back in recession when the banks closed their doors two weeks ago. Continue reading...

Acquiescing to the troika template of austerity has resigned the Celtic Tiger to long-term damage to the economy and to repeat mistakes. Athens take noteThroughout Europe, Ireland is held up as an example for Greece: we took the pain, engaged with the troika, and worked our way out of crisis to become the fastest growing economy … or so the story goes.This myth, however, is based on much that is misunderstood and more that isn’t mentioned. It’s true that Ireland’s relationship with the troika was not contentious – for good reasons. When the troika came to Ireland, they did not have to impose a programme, hand down edicts or enforce decrees. The government had been pursuing a troika-like programme for more than two years before the three institutions – EU, IMF and ECB – arrived in December 2010.Ireland is not only not a model for Greece and other European countries; it shouldn’t even be a model for itself Continue reading...

Alexis Tsipras firmly believes the EU would not dare let Greece go. But is the prime minister right about his country’s strategic importance?The arrival in a week of more than 9,000 refugees in the Greek islands highlights the fact that Greece’s euro drama is being played out in a turbulent neighbourhood. “I have no doubt this will affect Europe, also in a geopolitical sense,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, told the European parliament this week.But how? Continue reading...

Prime minister Alexis Tsipras has submitted proposals to European creditors for €13bn worth of cuts that include rises in taxes and pension ageStock markets have raced ahead across Europe amid renewed hopes that a deal can be reached to save Greece from crashing out of the eurozone.The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has submitted proposals for a harsh new round of austerity measures totalling €13bn (£9.35bn) in an attempt to break the deadlock over its bailout and is now seeking the backing of parliament in Athens.Related: Greek crisis: Markets surge after Athens submits reform plan - live Continue reading...

The measures drawn up by Alexis Tsipras and his cabinet to help broker a dealRelated: Greek crisis: Alexis Tsipras urges MPs to back bailout plan - live updatesRelated: Greece's euro drama: geopolitical concerns may have already played a role Continue reading...

European council president Donald Tusk has backed calls for Greece’s debt sustainability to be tackled as part of a third bailoutRead our latest live blog on the Greek debt crisis12.15am BSTSo to recap, Greece has put forward a plan of reforms, spending cuts and tax rises that is close to what was demanded by its creditors before Alexis Tsipras called last Sunday’s referendum.The plan includes sweeping chnages to VAT to raise a full 1 percent of GDP, moving more items to the 23% top rate of tax, including restaurants - a key battleground before.11.44pm BSTThe Greek proposal doesn’t appear to cover debt relief. But apparently, Athens has also released one of its ‘non-papers’ to the media, explaining that they are also seeking “regulation’ of debt” and the €35bn investment package promised by Jean-Claude Juncker.@SpiegelPeter Gov nonpaper accompanying prior actions sez request to ESM incl ‘regulation’ of debt + €35-bn ‘frontloaded investment package'11.09pm BSTThis - http://t.co/GKzYq0g4Zk - looks v similar to the 26th June draft plan. The one voted down in the referendum.Basically: Syriza get presented with 26th June plan, call referendum, win referendum, Creditors hit back with "deal or Grexit", Greeks fold.11.08pm BSTA round of applause for Greek newspaper Naftemporiki, who has uploaded the full proposal:11.05pm BSTIt does appear that Greece has, errr, compromised rather substantially:New #Greece proposal appears to meet creditor demands for phasing out pension system's "solidarity grant" by 2019With a quick read, new #Greece proposal appears to move closer to creditors on VAT & pension reforms. But was pre-June 30 creditor position11.03pm BSTHot out of Brussels, the Greek proposal is starting to leak.And it shows that Greece is promising to hit the surplus targets demanded by its creditors, after months of resistanceGot copy of new #Greece proposal. Maintains primary surpluses at 1%, 2%, 3% & 3.5%, though 1st 3 years in parenthesesBREAKING: Greece offers sweeping sales tax hikes, pension cuts in new proposals to creditors.* Greek reforms proposal to raise corporate tax in 2015 - RTRS* Greek reforms proposal to increase tax on shipping companies - RTRS* Greek reforms proposal to increase luxury tax and implement tax on TV adverts immediately - RTRS* Greek reforms proposal ekas benefit to be gradually phased out for all pensioners by end December 2019 - RTRS10.28pm BSTAnd finally (probably), the first reactions are already coming in from outraged leftists following news of the new measures, says Helena.The communist party has called on supporters to attend a mass rally in Omonia Square at 7pm (5pm BST) on Friday to protest “the barbaric memorandum.”“Let’s say NO to the barbaric memorandum.”10.09pm BSTPanic over! A signed copy of the Greek proposal has landed in Brussels.Now received. Signed. Three institutions will now assess. #withJuncker10.00pm BSTSo what happens now? Over to Athens.....Our correspondent Helena Smith has confirmed that the proposed reforms have indeed been sent to the country’s creditors - and three hours AHEAD of the midnight deadline central European time.9.40pm BSTAh, there may be a hitch...Signed letters are needed.9.30pm BSTEurogroup president Dijsselbloem’s spokesman has confirmed that the Greek bailout plan has arrived!New Greek proposals received by #Eurogroup president @J_Dijsselbloem, important for institutions to consider these in their assessment8.51pm BSTSounds like the Greek proposal has been fired across to Brussels; if so, that’s AHEAD of the midnight deadline.#Greece reforms' proposal sent to the Institutions and #Eurogroup's Dijsselbloem ~official8.33pm BST8.15pm BSTHere’s our latest news story about tonight’s developments:The Greek government capitulated on Thursday to demands from its creditors for severe austerity measures in return for a modest debt write-off, raising hopes that a rescue deal could be signed at an emergency meeting of EU leaders on Sunday.Athens is understood to have put forward a package of reforms and public spending cuts worth €13bn (£9.3bn) to secure a third bailout from creditors that could raise $50bn and allow it to stay inside the currency union.Related: Greece debt crisis: Athens accepts harsh austerity as bailout deal nears8.02pm BSTA group of pro-EU demonstrators have gathered outside the Greek parliament tonight:6.47pm BSTFriday will be busy....Greek PM Tsipras has called a meeting of party lawmakers for 0600BST tomorrow (@RANsquawk)6.29pm BSTInternational observers have been telling us today that the package is likely to be so punitive that humanitarian aid cannot be ruled out.EU president Jean Claude Juncker had mentioned humanitarian aid as part of the “detailed Grexit scenario” plans creditors had drawn up. EU diplomats based in Athens said some form of assistance is likely to be given even if am agreement between Greece its creditors is reached.6.21pm BSTWe don’t yet know the details of Greece’s plan, but one report says there will be €13bn of fresh austerity. A heavy blow for the economy after years of recession, and the current banking shutdown.#Greece reforms proposal foresees €13bn of fiscal measures and €50bn of requested loan ~source #ESM6.11pm BSTThe irony has not been lost on anyone - even though governing MPs are making light of it - that after the Greeks’ resounding rejection of further biting austerity at the weekend, prime minister Alexis Tsipras has with lightning speed now agreed to put his name to the most punitive austerity package any government has been asked to implement during the five years of economic crisis in Greece.6.05pm BSTBreaking news in Athens.In an emergency meeting the Greek government has approved the package of measures it will present to creditors (hopefully later this evening) to break the impasse and reach an agreement, our correspondent Helena Smith reports.4.25pm BSTTime for a recapThe Greek government is furiously scrambling to draw up a credible package of economic reforms to deliver to its creditors before midnight tonight, ahead of Sunday meetings that will decide its future in the eurozone.The world waits for the #Greek proposals which have been penned here at the office of @atsipras #GreeceCrisis pic.twitter.com/eNxUCP9V7URealistic proposal from Athens needs to be matched by realistic proposal from creditors on debt sustainability to create win-win situationNo matter what. Help to #Greece no justification of wrong economic philosophy causing the crisis. "Magnum vectigal est parsimonia"“Debt sustainability is not feasible without a haircut and I think the IMF is correct in saying that....There cannot be a haircut because it would infringe the system of the European Union.”Schaeuble: "We could take Puerto Rico into euro if #US were willing to take #Greece into dollar. (Jack Lew) thought that was a joke” #uhmBy Monday morning, hopefully, it should be pretty clear whether or not Greece is staying in the euro area – at least for the next few months.It seems very unlikely that over the next 72 hours the two sides will bridge the gap between Tsipras’ desire for a debt write-down and the Europeans’ reluctance to offer anything up-front without Greece actually implementing (as opposed to promising to implement) reforms.* Euro zone finance ministers plan to start Eurogroup on Greece at 3pm cet (1300 gmt) Saturday to discuss Greek proposals - officials - RTRSSunday's #EuroSummit to start at 16.00, subsequent special meeting of the European Council to start at 18.00. #EUCO #Greece3.53pm BSTEuropean commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis has confirmed that Greece’s lenders are working on a debt sustainability analysis, ready for the weekend.Debt relief: EC is not interfering on IMF's work. Now we're working together with ECB & IMF on t debt sust analysis: @VDombrovskis #Greece3.26pm BSTIn Spain, a video is doing the rounds shows Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras -- whether intentionally or not -- snubbing his Spanish anti-austerity ally, Podemos’ Pablo Iglesias.The video, shot as Tsipras visited the European parliament on Wednesday, shows the Syriza leader greeting politicians. As Iglesias puts his hand on Tsipras’ shoulder and holds out his other hand, Tsipras instead turns to French MEP Jean-Luc Mélenchon.“The circumstances are different and it makes no sense to draw parallels.”3.22pm BSTMr Schäuble is in a witty moody today....What? --> GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER SCHAEUBLE: OFFERED LEW TO TAKE PUERTO RICO IF US TAKES GREECE - MNI#MichelSapin @Min_Finances and #Schäuble @BMF_Bund discussion finished, video follows at http://t.co/0d35dsGAa7 pic.twitter.com/LHbDfVA7jZ3.18pm BSTWoah! Back in Frankfurt, Wolfgang Schäuble has said the IMF is correct that Greece needs a haircut make its debt sustainable; but alas this isn’t possible under European rules.GERMANY'S SCHAEUBLE SAYS DEBT SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT FEASIBLE WITHOUT A HAIRCUT, THINK THE IMF IS CORRECT IN SAYING THAT- GERMANY'S SCHAEUBLE SAYS CANNOT BE A HAIRCUT BECAUSE IT WOULD INFRINGE SYSTEM OF EUROPEAN UNION so they are out*SCHAEUBLE: LEEWAY FOR GREEK DEBT REPROFILING VERY SMALL3.04pm BSTSpotted: Greece’s new finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, chatting with his predecessor Yanis Varoufakis in the Athens parliament today.2.59pm BSTFrench finance minister Michel Sapin has also weighed in on the Greek crisis.Reuters has the details:“Balanced budgetary strategies are necessary and efforts are needed to boost investment,” Sapin told a conference in Frankfurt. “We must find the right balance between indispensable budgetary consideration and boosting growth.”Regarding Greece, Sapin said there was a need to rebuild confidence and trust to find a solution to the current crisis#greece macron, valls, sapin, even god forbid hollande. nice to see the french standing up for a change #vivela...2.57pm BSTOver in Frankfurt, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble called for the eurozone to be strengthened to avoid a repeat of the Greek crisis.

Greek cabinet backs a 13-page package of reforms and spending cuts worth €13bn to secure third bailout and modest debt writeoffThe Greek government capitulated on Thursday to demands from its creditors for severe austerity measures in return for a modest debt write-off, raising hopes that a rescue deal could be signed at an emergency meeting of EU leaders on Sunday.Related: Greek crisis: Government agrees reform measures - live updates Continue reading...

The economics thinktank has once again identified, then costed, the gap between George Osborne’s rhetoric and realityIt all seemed to be going well for George Osborne. A confident display in the Commons. A big increase in the minimum wage. Headlines to die for in the Conservative-supporting papers.Then the Institute for Fiscal Studies came along. Over the years it has become almost a ritual, whichever party is in power, for the IFS to pick the budget to pieces. This was no exception and Osborne’s latest offering got the full treatment.Related: Budget 2015: tax credit claimants will be up to £1,000 a year worse off, says IFSRelated: Taking the measure of the ‘national living wage’ | Letters Continue reading...