Greek optimism on deal not justified, says Wolfgang Schauble

German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said yesterday the Greek government’s optimism about clinching a cash-for-reforms deal with its lenders within days was not backed up by negotiations and he could not rule out Greece becoming insolvent.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist government hopes a deal with foreign lenders is imminent, with finance minister Yanis Varoufakis saying on Monday that an agreement could be reached within a week.

But Mr Schauble poured cold water on this idea, saying reports from the international institutions involved in negotiations with Athens suggested talks were progressing “very hesitantly”.