ATHENS, April 27 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday reshuffled his team handling talks with European and IMF lenders, a move widely seen as an effort to sideline embattled Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to a less active role in negotiations.
An anti-austerity economist who has angered peers with his brash style, Varoufakis is facing calls to quit after returning from a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Riga isolated and empty-handed while Athens scrambles to avoid bankruptcy.
Tsipras and senior aides formally expressed support for Yanis Varoufakis at a meeting on Sunday and agreed the finance minister would supervise a new team negotiating a reforms deal with lenders, a government official said.
But Deputy Foreign Minister Euclid Tsakalotos - an economist well-liked by officials representing creditors - was appointed coordinator of the group, the official said, elevating him from his current position and giving him a more active role in the negotiations.
The latest developments suggested Tsipras was ramping up efforts to strike a deal with lenders to unlock aid so that Greece can avoid a default or national bankruptcy.
Greek two-year yields fell over 100 basis points to the day's low of 24.87 percent after the news, reversing an earlier rise.
"The Eurogroup meeting in Riga showed Varoufakis was more or less isolated and it seems that Tsipras has understood that," said Felix Herrmann, a market strategist at DZ Bank. "The market is a bit relieved...(that) his influence has decreased."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3057310/Greek-govt-reshuffles-EU-IMF-negotiating-team-Riga-debacle.html
No comments:
Post a Comment