Eurozone

By Yalman Onaran

An outflow of deposits from Greek banks will put pressure on the government to limit how much money people can withdraw or transfer outside the country as European Union nations lose patience with providing a lifeline.

By George Georgiopoulos & John O'Donnell

Greek borrowing costs leapt and bank shares were hammered on Thursday after the European Central Bank abruptly pulled the plug on its funding for the country's financial sector in what Athens labelled an act of coercion.

By John Geddie

Greece's plans to make its debt more manageable by swapping rescue loans for growth-indexed bonds may be deemed illegal under European Union rules, according to a lawyer who worked on the country's 2012 debt restructuring.

By Jan Strupczewski & Paul Taylor

Greece can choose how to make its public finances healthy and its economy grow, but it must extend its bailout program by a few months to gain time to negotiate those steps, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

By John O'Donnell & Jan Strupczewski

The European Central Bank abruptly canceled its acceptance of Greek bonds in return for funding on Wednesday, shifting the burden onto Athens' central bank to finance its lenders and isolating Greece unless it strikes a new reform deal.

By Nikos Chrysoloras and Elisa Martinuzzi

Greek banks plummeted in Athens trading Thursday after the European Central Bank restricted direct access to its funding lines, forcing the nation?s lenders to rely on emergency funds.

Greece's borrowing rate soared above the symbolic level of 10 percent on Thursday, after the European Central Bank moved to restrict the country's banks' access to a key source of cash.
      
Shortly after 0800 GMT, Greek 10-year bonds were fetching yields of 10.051 percent on the secondary market, up from 9.678 percent on Wednesday.
      

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was in contact with European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi late on Wednesday, after the ECB lifted a waiver on Greek government bonds Wednesday evening.

By Lucy Meakin

Greece?s government bonds may decline after the European Central Bank restricted direct access to its funding lines, adding to pressure on the newly-elected government to moderate its anti-austerity policies.

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would would no longer accept junk-rated Greek government bonds as collateral for regular central bank loans.

The ECB said in a Wednesday statement that it its Governing Council had decided to lift the waiver affecting marketable debt instruments issued or fully guaranteed by Greece.