Euro leaders, Lagarde dampen Greek govt hopes for quick deal

Α mini scrum of top European leaders on Friday dampened the leftist Greek government’s hopes for a bailout deal in the next few days, despite smiles and “positive leaks” in the wake of a late-night meeting the previous evening between Angela Merkel, Francoise Hollande and Alexis Tsipras.

IMF boss Christine Lagarde was the last of five to preclude a fast-track release of 7.2 billion euros in remaining bailout funds, with Reuters quoting her from Brazil as characteristically saying that a loan extension agreement with Greece has “to be a comprehensive approach, not a quick and dirty job.”

Earlier, EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and a trio of Germans, Merkel, FinMin  Wolfgang Schaeuble and Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann throwing “cold water” on the SYRIZA government’s expectation — amid an exacerbated cash crunch in Greece.

Conversely, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker — by far the most prominent pro-Athens “player” on the European stage over the recent period — insisting that the country must remain euro-zone membership.

The main stumbling blocks remain the leftist government’s refusal to sign-off on further labor sector liberalization that would allow mass layoffs in companies undergoing restructuring and cuts in supplementary pensions when funds allocating the cash are in the red.