Economy

By Marcus Bensasson

The root of Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis's desperation for debt relief will be laid bare in the coming days.

 Election promises and revenue shortfall could take the fiscal gap to as much as 5 billion euros this year

By Sotiris Nikas

Greece?s government on Wednesday said it was sticking to plans to halt the sale of its two biggest ports, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, rebuffing reports it was having second thoughts.

Statements by the German and Dutch finance ministers regarding the prospects of Greece and its partners reaching a deal dashed expectations at the Athens bourse on Wednesday and sent the benchmark down over 4 percent. A government statement on the freezing of the port privatization tenders did not help either.

Thousands of Greeks took to the streets of Athens on Wednesday to support their new anti-austerity government which was locked in tough negotiations with eurozone partners in Brussels.

Satellite demonstrations were expected in Brussels, at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and elsewhere in Europe.

The Greek stock exchange closed down 4.02 percent on Wednesday ahead of an emergency meeting of eurozone finance ministers during which the country will unveil controversial proposals to overhaul its bailout.

A top eurozone official has downplayed expectations that a debt deal with Greece is likely at an emergency meeting Wednesday.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers, says "we will listen to the plans of the Greek government» and «we will look how we can deal with this over the coming days."

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will reportedly meet with Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund immediately after his arrival in Brussels, where the extraordinary meeting of the Eurogroup takes place this evening.

Amid the continuing fall out over the HSBC scandal, a journalistic project in Romania has named a key figure in the ruling party as one of those who held secret accounts in the Swiss branch of the British bank.

"Austerity measures will be necessary in 2018 as well"

BELGRADE -- The Fiscal Council - an an independent state organ that reports to parliament - says the three-year plan adopted by the government was "good in principle."