Greek withdrawal from the eurozone

US Ambassador in Athens Geoffrey Pyatt discerns huge opportunities for American companies in Greece, mainly in tourism, energy and startups.

The Greek government on June 22 said the country was "turning a page" after eurozone ministers declared its crisis over as they granted Athens debt relief under a bailout exit strategy.

Even though no officials have publicly said so, it is now certain that the International Monetary Fund will not participate in the Greek bailout program with funding.

Greece is optimistic about prospects for a debt relief deal this month that will make its post-bailout return to bond markets credible along with EU monitoring and a cash buffer, a Greek government official said on Thursday.

Greece is in talks with its euro zone and IMF lenders on Thursday in Paris about hammering out later this month a debt relief deal.

European officials are still optimistic after the minimal progress made in last weekend's talks on the Greek debt in Canada, although some distance remains between the International Monetary Fund and Berlin.

Discussions are expected to continue at Thursday's Euro Working Group meeting in Paris, but very little time remains for the IMF to fully enter the Greek program.

The possible non-participation of the International Monetary Fund in the Greek program will not impact the credibility of Greece's scheduled bailout exit in the summer, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said on Monday.

Euro zone lenders will put together a debt relief deal for Greece that will be credible to markets and involve a rescheduling of loans from the second Greek bailout, said Mario Centeno, chairman of the euro zone finance ministers group.

Political developments in Italy - with the prospect of another snap election - may disrupt Greece's plans to stage a smooth exit from the bailout program in August, according to analysts, as they expect the cost of borrowing to soar again for Greece, which is always an easy target when the eurozone hits a snag.

Addressing a general meeting of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) on Tuesday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras associated the negotiations on the measures to ease Greece's debt with the outcome of the Italian political crisis, and domestic political stability with a smooth exit from the bailout program.

A meeting of the so-called Washington Group - representatives of Greece's creditors as well as the governments of Germany, France, Spain and Italy, the biggest eurozone economies - failed to break a deadlock over the Greek debt as the International Monetary Fund and Berlin remain divided on the length of an upfront extension on bailout loans.