Greek debt talks lead to game of brinkmanship

Greece’s new leftist government appealed to the Central Bank yesterday to keep its banks afloat and vowed to respect EU rules as it seeks a negotiated solution with eurozone partners to reduce its debt burden.

Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said that after meeting ECB president Mario Draghi in Frankfurt that he believed Athens could count on central bank support during the short period it would take to conclude talks with international lenders.

Banking sources told Reuters two Greek banks have begun to receive emergency liquidity assistance from the Bank of Greece after an outflow of deposits accelerated after the victory of the hard left Syriza party in a general election on Jan. 25. The Greek government wants that funding to continue because if the ECB were to halt it, Greek banks could collapse, forcing the country out of the eurozone.