Yannis Dragasakis

“I would like to publicly thank the US administration and President Obama, given that without their help and persistence that an agreement should include the issue of debt, we may not have achieved one,” Greek government Deputy PM Yannis Dragasakis reiterated on Wednesday.

The government will table its latest “11th hour” proposal to creditors in Parliament on Thursday evening. The proposal is written in English and will be submitted in all of one article!

Moreover, according to reports out of Athens and Brussels, creditors have already provided the first “ok” after receiving the signed copies of Athens’ proposals for the latest bailout package.

The prospect of the Greek government canceling a hastily called referendum on creditors’ proposals has reportedly caused a firestorm of debate within the ruling SYRIZA party, and more importantly, within the Cabinet itself.

Greece's government will continue working closely with the European Central Bank and the country's central bank to ensure banks are stable, the deputy prime minister said in a tweet on Saturday after a meeting with ECB chief Mario Draghi.

A teleconference between the BoG and the ECB is ongoing, after just after noon (10.00 GMT). According to sources, once the teleconference is complete, a new conference between central bankers and BoG Gov. Yannis Stournaras will take place. During the conference, crucial decisions will be made.

The VP of the Greek government, Yannis Dragasakis and the Deputy Minister of International Financial Relations Eucleid Tsakalotos will hold a meeting tomorrow, on Saturday, with ECB president Mario Draghi, on the subject of Greek bank liquidity.

“It’s not a (counter) proposal, it’s Armageddon; they sent it to us at 5 in the morning”, was the response by a high-ranking but unnamed Greek government spokesman to reported demands for a higher (23 percent) VAT rate on most goods as a well as an end to practically all early retirement schemes in the country.

The latest developments in the treadmill of negotiations with lenders are becoming dramatic, since everything is now open, after the Greek Prime Minister’s statement on the “Institutions” shortly before he departed for Brussels.

The most crucial phase of the negotiations began on Saturday evening, since Minister Nikos Pappas is meeting with EC officials. This meeting is preparatory, according to the Maximos Mansion.

The government may be denying that there was an ultimatum from lenders for a quick and convincing answer on Athens’ part on their agreement proposals, but evidence shows that things are tending to take on a downwards, ever-speeding spiral, which in turn requires delicate and lightning-fast handling by the Greek government in order to avoid an uncontrollable crisis.