Greece blames lenders for failure of debt deal in latest Brussels talks

Greece put the blame on lenders on Sunday for the new failure to bridge differences in the latest round of talks held in Brussels during the weekend for a reforms-for-cash debt deal to avert a Greek bankruptcy and Grexit in coming weeks.

The European Commission announced that despite some progress made, "significant gaps" remained.

Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragassakis who headed a delegation of Greek officials in Brussels told media after the collapse of the talks that Greece had submitted revised proposals, as it had been agreed, to cover the fiscal gap.

"These proposals open the way for the final solution... But lenders insisted on covering this fiscal gap by further cuts on pensions amounting to 1 percent of GDP and VAT hikes of another 1 percent of GDP," Dragassakis said.

The Greek official claimed that lenders' representatives on Sunday "were not authorized to negotiate" on issues to overcome the deadlock.

He stressed that Greece still seeks the conclusion of negotiations and a "mutually beneficial agreement."

After five months of talks the clock is ticking for cash strapped Greece.

The next critical date is June 18 when a Euro Group meeting could decide on the Greek issue.

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker was still convinced that an agreement could be reached before June 30, a spokesperson said on Sunday.

On June 30 expires the extension of the bailout agreed last February in order to give time to Greece and creditors for an agreement on their post-bailout cooperation. On the same day Greece needs to repay 1.5 billion euros (1.68 billion U.S. dollars) of loan installments to International Monetary Fund. Endit