Greece dismisses ultimatum scenario, expects debt deal with lenders by Monday

Greek government dismissed on Friday media reports that international lenders issued a one week ultimatum to June 4 for the achievement of a debt deal after Thursday's Euro Working Group talks in Brussels.

As negotiations on the package of reforms in return of further aid continued on Friday at the Brussels Group level, Greek sources talked about substantial progress, insisting that a first deal to unlock funds could be finalized this weekend, according to the national news agency AMNA.

"Media leaks on ultimatums are counterproductive," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told a local radio in Athens, as European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici's spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt was also stressing that there was never an ultimatum issued.

Varoufakis said that despite the pressure of time and the upcoming June 5 deadline when Athens needs to repay the next International Monetary Fund loan installment, the final deadline for a comprehensive deal was on June 30, when the loan agreement extension agreed in February expires.

The statement fueled scenarios in Athens that in case there was no time for the disbursement of international funds to Greece on time the government could request the IMF's agreement to repay the loan installment later in June without risking a credit event, as Greece's state coffers were running out of cash this spring.

Varoufakis appeared confident on Friday that a "comprehensive debt deal" will be reached by late June. Endit