Tsipras reaches out to euro region amid Greek spat with Germany

By Ben Sills and Eleni Chrepa

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reached out to Greece?s creditors, saying he?ll iron out the kinks in relations with the rest of the euro area days after his government lodged a complaint about the German finance minister.

Tsipras, speaking as his country met a loan repayment to the International Monetary Fund of about 350 million euros ($370 million), said that Greece has already starting delivering the action required to release more bailout funding and that he expects the euro region to do its part.

?We will solve all these misunderstandings,? Tsipras told reporters in Brussels on Friday before meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The Greek people need to hear a ?hope message,? he said.

Tsipras and his finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, are negotiating with the euro region to release more funds from the country?s 240 billion-euro bailout amid concern that his government could run out of cash at any moment. The Greece Public Debt Management Agency issued a payment order to be transferred to the IMF and the money will be deposited today, government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis said by telephone.

Greek bonds fell, with the 10-year government bond yield gaining 29 basis points to 10.71 percent at 1:17 p.m in Athens. The Athens Stock Exchange dropped 1.1 percent to 785.53.

The next financial hurdle comes on March 20, when the government has to pay the IMF another 346 million euros and refinance 1.6 billion euros of treasury bills. That?s at the same time as EU leaders including Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be meeting for a two-day summit in Brussels.

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