Eurogroup

The Greek Finance Ministry interpreted a European Central Bank decision to stop accepting Greek government bonds as collateral from local lenders as a moved aimed at pushing Athens and its eurozone partners towards a new debt deal.

The European Central Bank turned up the pressure on the government on Wednesday by lifting a waiver on Greek government bonds, which means that they can no longer be used by local lenders as collateral to borrow from Frankfurt.

Germany wants Greece's new left-wing government to go back on anti-austerity promises made in its first days in office and revert to economic policies its predecessors' agreed with international lenders, a document showed on Wednesday.

It is too early to discuss a third bailout package for Greece, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday, stressing the focus of talks with Athens was implementing measures already agreed with the eurozone.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is sticking to his hard line on Greece, telling a German newspaper the onus was on the government in Athens to fulfil the conditions of its bailout program before further aid would be paid out.

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos on Wednesday said Europe would use the next four months of a bailout extension by Athens to assess Greece's situation and its next steps, which he said would be a third rescue.

Press reports on Tuesday fuelled speculation over an extraordinary Eurogroup meeting on Feb. 11 to focus entirely on the Greek issue.

Fresh talk of a third international bailout for debt-hit Greece spread through European capitals on Tuesday, despite Brussels insisting it was far too soon to start discussing any new rescue package.

By Martin Schulz *

As the dust begins to settle after the Eurogroup agreement extending the loan facility to Greece by four months, it is a good moment to have a look at where we should go from here.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

The European Central Bank remains opposed to an increase in the exposure of domestic lenders to treasury bills, while its verdict tomorrow on the possible extension of the emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) mechanism for Greek banks is eagerly anticipated.