Eurozone

By Nikos Chrysoloras

Greece?s provisional agreement with creditors to avert a default started to crack as European officials said the country?s latest proposals fell far short of what was put forward two weeks ago and Greek ministers floated the prospect of a referendum if their reforms are rejected.

Greece is to submit seven reforms at the Eurogroup meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday in Brussels. These reforms will provide the framework for a debate that the Greek government hopes will change the negative climate for Greece and the European Central Bank's decisions.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker called on the European Union to recognize the gravity of the situation in Greece -- both for the country's impoverished citizens and for the wider risks to the eurozone.

By Jan Strupczewski

The reform outline sent by Greece to eurozone ministers to unblock loans is "helpful," but needs to be scrutinized by representatives of the country's creditors, according to the head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers.

By Steve Scherer

ROME - Greece could call a referendum or have early elections should its eurozone partners reject its debt and growth plans, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.

The European Central Bank is looking forward to working with Greece to complete a review of its bailout, but time is running short, ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure told a Cypriot newspaper on Sunday.

Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem met with Greek students in the Netherlands who expressed his dissatisfaction with statements made in the Dutch press stating that every Dutch citizen has to pay 700 euros for Greek debt. The student points out that this is not the case as the money goes straight to banks and there are loans to pay off loans.

By Alexis Papachelas

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis lobbed his latest 'bombshell' at Europe over the weekend, leaving open the possibility of a referendum in Greece if the Eurogroup on Monday rejects the latest plan submitted by the new leftist government in Athens.

European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Benoit Coeure told the influential daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the ECB rejects the Greek government's recent request to issue more short-term debt (via T-bills) because this would be tantamount to illegally financing Greece.