Greece signals concessions in talks

The Greek government signalled the biggest concessions so far as crunch talks with lenders on a cash-for-reforms package started in earnest yesterday, but tried to assure leftist supporters it had not abandoned its anti-austerity principles.

Prime minister Alexis Tsipras’s three-month-old government is under growing pressure to reach an agreement with European and IMF lenders to avert a national bankruptcy.

A new poll showed over three quarters of Greeks feel Athens must strike a deal at any cost to stay in the euro. An enlarged team of Greek negotiators began talks with representatives of the troika to discuss which reforms Greece will turn into legislation rapidly in exchange for aid.