New Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos may be less flamboyant than his predecessor Yanis Varoufakis, but his views on his country's debt crisis are no less stridently held. While most commentators appear to agree that Mr Tsakalotos, 55, will be less bombastic than Mr Varoufakis in his dealings with international creditors, some argue that his negotiating stance could even be more hard line.
Yanis Varoufakis, who was Greece's finance minister until Monday morning, was reportedly pushed from his job after he told a journalist that Greece could introduce a parallel currency in the weeks ahead. Cash is flooding out of Greek banks at the moment, and the government desperately needs money to make payments due later this month.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández used her Twitter account on Sunday to celebrate the result of a Greek bailout referendum saying it was “an outright victory of Democracy and Dignity. The Greek people have said NO.”
Greeks packed city squares for dueling rallies late into the night Friday, as polls showed a dead heat between the 'yes' and 'no' camps ahead of a bailout referendum Sunday that could be Greece's most important vote since it joined the European Union.
Greece on Tuesday became the first developed country to join a roster that includes some of the world’s poorest and worst governed nations, including Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Those are a few of the countries that have missed payments to the IMF as Greece did Tuesday, when it failed to make a loan payment of about 1.5 billion Euros, or $1.7 billion, to the fund.
European leaders have warned Greeks that rejecting creditors' proposals in a snap referendum called for Sunday would mean leaving the Euro. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the vote would be “yes or no to the Euro zone”.
Greek banks are to remain closed and capital controls will be imposed, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced. Speaking after the European Central Bank (ECB) said it was not increasing emergency funding to Greek banks, Tsipras underlined Greek deposits were safe.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has reiterated his support for a wider system of control on international sovereign debt restructuring, citing the examples of Argentina, Greece and Ukraine to back up his assertion that the area needs more supervision to protect those involved.
Shares on European stock markets have fallen amid reports that senior EU officials have discussed a possible Greek default for the first time. The Athens stock exchange closed on Friday nearly 6% lower. Germany's Dax and France's Cac 40 ended more than 1% lower. Shares also fell in the US, with the Dow Jones index dropping 0.8%.
The United States warned on Friday of a possible accident for the world economy if Greece and its creditors miss their June deadlines to avert a debt default. Germany said there was no sign of a breakthrough. The ongoing debate is taking place in Dresden, Germany in the framework of G7 Finance ministers and central bank chiefs meeting.