Greek government-debt crisis

Greece's top administrative court has blocked the sale of a luxury seaside resort outside Athens to an Arab-Turkish fund, court officials said on Thursday, dealing a further blow to the country's battered privatisation plan.

The euro area's sources in Brussels said a list of reforms sent by Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis has neither been approved nor disapproved, contrary to media reports in Greece, which claimed that the list was rejected.

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday there was no "diabolical plan" by Spain and Portugal to topple Greeces new hard-left government after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused the countries of undermining debt talks with Brussels.

The Greek government has a backup plan if a portion of a 7.2 billion euro bailout tranche is not dispersed in March, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said late on Wednesday.

By Nikos Chrysoloras, Rebecca Christie & Vassilis Karamanis

 As talks over the disbursement of bailout funds for Greece drag on into their seventh consecutive month, the deadlock threatens to pull the country back into a recession this quarter, or even a possible default within weeks.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis failed to sway Greece's international lenders with his reforms list, a packet of six measures sent just days ahead of Monday's crucial Eurogroup.

 Conflicting statements by ministers over property taxation, objective values, tax-free threshold for incomes

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

Never one to eschew the dramatic, FinMin Yanis Varoufakis likened the current situation in (still) recession-plagued Greece with the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In his speech at the Greek-French Chamber, as long as a political solution is delayed, the recession will wear down the common currency and turn the peoples of Europe against each other.

Parliament Speaker Zoe Constantopoulou suggested on Wednesday that some laws voted by less than 151 of 300 MPs when Golden Dawn MPs being held in pretrial custody were not allowed to cast ballots might not stand and that she will review the relevant legislation.

A Cabinet meeting is currently taking place at the Maximos Mansion government headquarters on fiscal policies.

One concern, according to reports, is a looming liquidity crisis, Monday’s Eurogroup and planned reforms to be presented by Athens at the latter — a prerequisite that the Greek government signed-off on in order to achieve approval of a loan agreement extension.