Greek bailout deal possible by end April, Tusk says

A deal on Greeces bailout is possible before the end of April, EU Council President Donald Tusk said Tuesday as Athens continued tough talks with its creditors on a disputed list of reforms.

Tusk said the negotiations were "complex," and while nothing was expected before Easter, a late April deadline agreed between Greece and its EU-IMF creditors was still within reach.

"I hope we will reach an agreement by the end of April, for me it is possible," Tusk said during a visit to Madrid.

Experts from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union are scrutinising a list of economic reforms proposed by Athens in a bid to unlock another 7.2 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in loans to stave off possible bankruptcy and a euro exit.

Greece says the reforms would help raise an extra three billion euros for government coffers without resorting to wage and pension cuts.

"The process of assessment of this plan is very complex and I don?t foresee any breakthrough before Easter," Tusk said.

Catholic Easter this year falls on Sunday, April 5. Orthodox Easter, traditionally a slow period in Greece, is a week later.

Greeces hard-left government has already been sharply pressed to meet its monthly payments in salaries, pensions and debt servicing without the bailout funds.

But Tusk on Tuesday claimed that Athens could hold its own for the time being.

"I think that today we can say that the (economic) situation in Greece is under control," he said.

Athens has proposed to levy higher taxes on the rich, as well as measures to tackle tax evasion and illegal fuel and cigarette smuggling.

But its creditors are still pushing for pension cuts and civil service layoffs, as well as a number of key privatisations that...