Angela Merkel on Greece deal: Not much time left
There's not much time left to get a deal on Greece, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted today.
At a press conference following the G7 summit in Kruen, in the south of Germany, Merkel said that while Greece's creditors "want [it] to remain part of the eurozone", "there isn't much time left" to make a deal.
The country announced last week that instead of making a €300m payment to the IMF due on Friday, it would bundle all three of its payments due this month into one €1.6bn payment at the end of June.
Negotiations have been held up by Greece's insistence that targets for its primary budget surplus should be below one per cent. However, its lenders – including the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund have insisted on more stringent conditions.
Today Merkel added that "every day counts" before a deal is made.
"Everyond around that table wants Greece to stay in the euro – but we have rules."