Greece and its foreign creditors are still at odds over who will oversee a new privatisation fund, a finance ministry official said yesterday, an issue which must be resolved for Athens to qualify for fresh bailout aid.

Greece has told its European and IMF creditors it cannot implement some of the extra changes sought in exchange for fresh bailout loans, sources close to the talks said yesterday.

With a new bailout programme on the horizon Meg Lundsager argues that yet more IMF loans for Greece would be a stopgap measure and would delay reforms that Athens needs to make

Greece will ask its international lenders this week to lock annual debt-servicing costs on its official loans at a fixed interest rate to make its debt mountain more manageable.

Greece has demanded an explanation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after an apparently leaked transcript suggested the IMF may threaten to pull out of the country’s bailout as a tactic to force European lenders to offer more debt relief.

Greece and its international lenders resumed talks in Athens yesterday on the country’s fiscal and reform progress, rekindling Athens’ hopes that its first bailout review may be concluded before the end of April.

Greece’s international lenders expect to have finished verifying that Athens has carried out promised reforms by the Greek Orthodox Easter in late April or early May, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Eurozone deputy finance ministers provisionally approved the payout of a €1bn aid tranche for Greece yesterday after Athens withdrew a disputed package of social justice measures from parliament.

Greece is aiming for a deal with international lenders today on the next set of reforms to unlock extra aid, but differences remain over how to handle banks’ bad loans. 

Greece has carried out all the reforms in the first package of measures agreed with eurozone creditors, which paves the way for Athens to get the next tranche of loans, the head of eurozone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at the weekend.

Greece must implement its bailout programme fast to achieve its main aim of regaining access to market financing and escaping international supervision, re-elected leftist prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said.

Former Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras played down fears yesterday that a snap election in two weeks would produce a fractured result, saying there were enough undecided voters to produce a clear winner on the day.

Greek opposition leaders made zero progress as they pressed on with trying to form a coalition yesterday, despite appeals from home and abroad for a rapid move to elections so the country can deal with its economic and humanitarian crises.

The European Commission has urged Greece to stick to commitments it has made to reform its economy as prime minister Alexis Tsipras called a snap election within hours of new EU bailout cash arriving in Athens.

Greece is receiving the first €13bn payment of its new bailout.

Bailout deal sees Syriza fracture and a confidence vote looming

Greece will move rapidly to privatise its ports, regional airports and its power grid operator under a memorandum of understanding agreed with its international lenders.

Greek traders have said they expect a torrid day of losses when the Athens stock market opens today after being shut for five weeks as part of attempts to stop Greece’s financial collapse.

In the recent press briefing for the National Treasury Management Agency’s (NTMA) 2014 Annual Report, its chief executive Conor O’Kelly highlighted the difficult task facing Ireland in the next few years as a significant level of debt needs to be re-financed.

Greek banks are set to keep broad cash controls in place for months, until fresh money arrives from Europe and with it a sweeping restructuring, officials believe.

Greece got a triple dose of good news yesterday when creditors agreed to open talks on a third bailout package to give the country an interim loan to cover its debts and to provide more support to its closed banks.

Mick Wallace to co-operate with Gardaí, but refusing PAC invite; Joan Burton brands Social Democrats ‘the New Troika in Town’; Irish amateur Paul Dunne 'pretty pleased' with dream Open start Greece seeks immediate bailout relief after voting through austerity package Just some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com

The IMF’s threat to pull out of bailouts for Greece unless European partners grant Athens massive debt relief poses a stark challenge to Germany, the biggest creditor, which insists on IMF involvement in any future rescue.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras faces open revolt from some of his own ministers as he seeks support for a bailout deal that, while saving the country from financial collapse, will cause years of pain for Greece.

On the second day following the Greek debt agreement, markets posted further modest gains, but continued to worry whether the €86bn bailout accord will stick in the coming weeks, analysts warned yesterday.

The Greek deal set off a bitter war of words in Irish politics with the Coalition using it to brand Sinn Féin as economically “stupid”, while Gerry Adams hit back describing the Government’s attitude towards Athens as “obscene”.

The problem in the Greek economy came to a head because of a failure by successive governments there to collect taxes and a reluctance on the part of the electorate to contribute towards austerity measures.

The Greek parliament has backed government proposals for economic reforms in the hope of ending the country’s debt crisis.

A harsher austerity programme than any that has gone before for Greece will be studied by troika officials today before going to eurozone ministers tomorrow.

Greece’s last throw of the dice to get a third bailout from the EU and IMF was expected to be delivered to Brussels around midnight.

Opposition party fears that the Government intends to use the looming pre-election budget to try and buy votes have been fuelled by Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s pledge to cut the Universal Social Charge by 1%.

Greece may be about to become the first country to step through the exit door and leave the eurozone, according to a Reuters poll that put the chances of the monetary union breaking up at more than 50% for the first time.

Anybody with children will be well aware of the existence of Mr Nobody.

Short term financing and a longer term programme with widespread changes to the Greek economy were on the table last night but EU leaders gave Greece a final deadline of Sunday to submit detailed plans.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras launched a desperate bid to win fresh aid from creditors at an emergency eurozone summit yesterday, before his country’s banks run out of money.

The Government is willing to back a “radical” overhaul of Greece’s debts as Athens moves towards applying for a third bailout but the Coalition will not seek fresh concessions on loans owed by Ireland.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has ruled out any new bailout for Greece restricting what the Irish Government can offer in the next budget.

The past week has taken its toll on nearly everybody in Greece. What’s next, asks Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill from Athens

Ireland is unlikely to face any serious economic difficulties if Greece votes against its international bailout and potentially then leaves the euro, according to Simon Harris, the junior finance minister.

The Greek prime minister has backed himself into a corner. With his people facing €60 cash withdrawal limits at banks, they may well choose to side with Europe in a vote, writes Hugo Dixon

A search operation has resumed in West Cork for a man missing since a freak accident killed his father and girlfriend; Irish tourists in Tunisia have pleaded with the Government to get them home; People who refuse to pay their Irish Water bills will not be brought to court until their debt reaches at least €500. Here’s this morning’s irishexaminer.com catch-up.

The lack of any 11th-hour breakthrough in talks between Athens and key eurozone leaders meant markets were little riled by the failure of Greece to meet the repayment to the IMF due yesterday.

The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has told Greeks that saying no to a bailout deal would be a vote to ditch the euro.

Enda Kenny has confirmed that Ireland would be expected to contribute over and above the €350 million already paid towards Greece if Athens were to enter a new international bailout programme.