EU countries will exchange information on the tax affairs of multinational companies under new rules backed by EU finance ministers aimed at stopping big companies avoiding paying their fair share into government coffers.

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.

Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem rejected calls for banking union regulations to be loosened after weeks of falling bank shares, saying new European bail-in rules had caused investors to look “more critically” at risks borne by banks.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warned eurozone governments against relying too much on loose monetary policy for economic growth, saying they must quickly strengthen public finances and bolster investment to emerge from the debt crisis.

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.

Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem urged Greece yesterday to hold elections as soon as possible to avoid delays in implementing a third bailout package.

Senior bonds of Greek banks tumbled yesterday after euro area finance ministers protected depositors from any losses in the country’s €86bn bailout.

A planned meeting of European Union leaders has been cancelled as crisis talks continue about Greece's place in the single currency zone.

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.

Greece will make a proposal to tap Europe’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, as soon as tomorrow, the eurozone’s top official has said.

A legal challenge to Greece’s critical bailout referendum has been rejected, clearing the way for the vote to go ahead tomorrow.

Eurozone finance ministers welcomed new Greek proposals for a cash-for-reform deal yesterday but said they required detailed study and it would take several days to determine whether they can lead to an agreement to avert a default.

Eurozone leaders have been called to an emergency summit on Monday as finance ministers failed to make any progress in resolving the Greek impasse.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has called on his fractious Syriza party to rally behind the government as time runs critically short to unlock funding from international lenders and avert a debt default.

Greece’s creditors yesterday drafted the broad lines of an agreement to put to the leftist government in Athens in a bid to conclude four months of acrimonious negotiations and release aid before the cash-strapped country runs out of money.

Greece repaid €750m to the IMF a day early, just as eurozone finance ministers sounded upbeat on negotiations to complete changes to the country’s bailout programme.

Frustrated finance ministers for the first time broke the taboo of talking about a “Plan B” for Greece at a fraught meeting in Riga.

European finance ministers are piling pressure on Greece to open its books and follow through with pledges agreed to in its rescue package, as the country tries to avoid running out of cash as soon as this month.

After weeks of what was described by eurozone president Jeroen Dijsselbloem as "wasting time", agreement was reached to start technical talks with Greece on its bailout.

Last Tuesday, Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis opted for some downtime, taking himself off to the theatre. The play he opted for was Happy Days by none other than Samuel Beckett. 

The chasm between Greece and Germany has widened to an alarming degree as the government in Athens began reversing many of the austerity measures under its programme last night.

There was an uneasy calm and lots of confusion at the end of the four-hour meeting of eurozone finance ministers yesterday after they failed to make progress on a new deal for Greece.

There was an uneasy calm and lots of confusion at the end of the four-hour meeting of eurozone finance ministers yesterday after they failed to make progress on a new deal for Greece.

The new Greek prime minister said he is hopeful a debt deal can be agreed to keep the country in the Euro.

Work is under way on a new deal between Greece and its troika creditors after both sides agreed to a number of compromises.

Talks between Greece and its eurozone creditors broke down without agreement or even a plan of action on how to move forward on the country's debts and bail-out.

Ireland could find its debt further alleviated if Greece is successful in renegotiating its debt burden.

Greece will ask today for a two-month extension to its bailout programme and which the eurozone is in favour of granting, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said yesterday.

Ireland could be in for a much kinder budget than planned in October, but Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he will wait for more figures about the economy before making any decisions.

The man in charge of the EU's bailout fund Jeroen Dijsselbloem has said it will be "difficult" for Ireland to get a deal on its legacy bank debts.

Eurozone countries could get more time to meet budget targets as part of a "contract" to carry out reforms, said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

The European Central Bank may ease its policy further if the euro gains strength, said ECB executive board member Benoît Coeuré.

Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem says eurozone finance ministers will return to their push to work out rules for channelling aid from the European Stability Mechanism directly to banks.

The eurozone’s Single Resolution Mechanism could use its borrowing ability to cushion shocks to countries whose financial systems are roiled by major bank failures, Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said.

Italy, beset by yet another government crisis, cannot afford political instability at a time when it needs to make its economy more competitive, the chairman of eurozone finance ministers said yesterday.

Banks offering interest-only mortgages and other incentives to buy-to-let investors would help stabilise rents, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said, adding that the jump in Dublin house prices was not a cause for concern yet.

Standard & Poor’s has stripped the Netherlands of its triple-A credit rating, saying that the country’s growth prospects have deteriorated and it is not performing as well as peers.

Karma seems to be the buzz word as politicians’ pasts come back to haunt them.

The countdown to Ireland exiting the bailout programme has begun at European level with officials studying the options and conditions for any follow-up, including a precautionary credit line.

The European Commission’s proposal for a single European resolution authority for failing banks is defensible, though potential conflicts of interest must be prevented, says Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Greece will have to wait until tomorrow for a decision on its next bailout instalment, as one of 22 conditions for the payment remains unfulfilled.

The president of Cyprus said yesterday the risk of bankruptcy had been contained and the country had no intention of leaving the euro, in a speech laden with criticism of Europe’s currency union for “experimenting” with the island’s fate.

The Dow Jones closed down 64.3 at 14447.8 last night.