European debt crisis

Greece and its eurozone partners should be able to come to a deal on the country's funding needs because everyone wants it to stay in the currency area, the head of the monetary union's bailout fund said in an interview with Le Monde published on Monday.

Spain raised the pressure on Greece Monday to "honour its commitments" to its European partners to end its debt crisis and prevent its dropping out of the eurozone.

"I do not want Greece to leave the euro. I do not believe that would be good for Greece or for Europeans in general," said Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a radio interview.

The ministry announced on Sunday that it has received prior approval from the World Bank for a partial guarantee of up to 200 million euro, which will allow it to request a loan from international lenders of up to 250 million euro. Banks have been invited to make their offers by April 1.

Greece believes that the February 20 Eurogroup agreement means that there is no specific primary surplus target for this year, a leading Greek negotiator has told Kathimerini.

The Cyprus example may be the best choice for Greece in order for the Greek government to be forced to implement reforms. This is a view sponsored by German magazine Der Spiegel, calling upon information from German chancellery officials.

Greece's combative finance minister has indicated that Athens' new radical left government is prepared to put some of its campaign promises on hold while it seeks to build confidence among its creditors.

"Our program is a program for four years," Yanis Varoufakis told reporters after a meeting of economic and finance leaders in northern Italy on March 13.

Technocrats representing the country?s creditors had their first exchanges with government officials in Athens, focusing on fiscal and macroeconomic issues amid concern that Greece will have lower than previously forecast growth and will have to find extra savings to meet its primary surplus target.

More than half of Germans believe debt-stricken Greece should leave the eurozone, according to a poll published on Friday amid a flaring war of words between Athens and Berlin.

And 80 percent believed Greece is not acting in a reliable manner in its negotiations with eurozone partners, according to a Politbarometer survey released by public broadcaster ZDF.

The European Union's financial affairs chief Pierre Moscovici warned in a magazine against underestimating the risks associated with Greece leaving the eurozone, saying such a step could be the beginning of the end for the common currency.

A new term has been added in the long list of code names used in the negotiations between Greece and its international creditors, after the recent replacement of "Troika" by the "Institutions."