Off the wire
• Oil prices rise on stock market strength  • Defender Subotic joins Cologne on loan  • Eurogroup urges Greece, creditors to resume debt talks  • U.S. initial jobless claims rise to 259,000  • Security in region most important for Poland, Latvia: Polish PM  • Cash-strapped Zimbabwe offers workers land to replace cash bonus  • Feature: Antiwar games try to make peace among South Sudanese  • U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies  • Spain's unemployment falls by 541,700 people in 2016  • British spaceman Peake to make second journey to International Space Station  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: Eurogroup urges Greece, creditors to resume debt talks

Xinhua, January 27, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Eurogroup urged Greece and its creditors to swiftly resume negotiations to agree on a policy reform package on Thursday in a bid to maintain the sustainability of Greek debt.

The reforms concerned Greece's labour and product markets, its energy sector and other areas, the Eurogroup said in a statement released following a Eurogroup meeting.

Ministers of the 19-country single currency zone as well expected that an agreement would be reached on Greece's medium-term fiscal strategy.

"The good news is Greek economy is recovering faster than anyone expected, there are also strong dynamics on the fiscal side with better than expected revenues," Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a press conference.

"We'll continue to support the positive trend in the economy," said Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister. He added that the Greek authorities and creditors would remain engaged in constructive discussions.

"A quick finalization of the second review is in everyone's interest," said Dijsselbloem.

The second review of Greek bailout program was initially scheduled to close in 2016 but has stalled over diverging views on thorny issues, including fiscal targets and labor reforms. Endit