BERLIN (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras presented a loan request in exchange for spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reforms to the creditor institutions.
"Schaeuble’s plan of Greece’s exit from the eurozone is approved by Merkel, [Gemany’s Vice-Chancellor] Gabriel is also informed, according to the government circles," ZDF’s employee said on Twitter.
Earlier, the German FAZ newspaper reported that Germany’s Ministry of Finance declared Tsipras’ loan request "unsatisfactory" and that Athens will leave the eurozone for 5 years maintaining the EU membership. However, Greek officials taking part in Saturday’s Eurogroup meeting on the debt issue denied the reports.
Greece is struggling with a deep economic crisis and is unable to repay its estimated $270 billion debt to its international creditors, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank and eurozone nations.
A 28-member EU summit on Greece’s debt issue and whether to accept Tsipras’ proposal is to be held later in the day.
