Envoys leave without deal, Merkel slams Greece over refugee response

Representatives of Greece's international creditors were expected to leave the capital on Friday without having reached an agreement with government officials on contentious issues including pension reform and overhauls to labor rights and the tax system.

Despite the insistence by European officials that a conclusion of the bailout review is unlikely before May, the Greek government indicated that there is enough time for an agreement significantly sooner than that though probably not in time for a March 20 Eurogroup.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos spoke of convergence between the two sides as regards "positive measures" - referring to a raft of so-called countermeasures including reductions to value-added tax rates and property levies - though he was vague about the progress on controversial austerity measures that form the main body of the discussion,...