Tsipras says rejects hike on electricity

Greece will not hike value added tax (VAT) for electricity, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Monday, as Greece looks to break the deadlock with its creditors over a cash-for-reforms deal.

The European Union has welcomed new proposals from Greece as a "good basis for progress" at talks where creditors want last ditch concessions to haul Athens back from the brink of bankruptcy.

"We are aiming to achieve a financially viable solution, we are aiming to leave excessive primary surpluses behind, to save wages and pensions, to avoid excessive and irrational (VAT) hikes on electricity," Tsipras said.

"We aim to restore normality in labour relations and at the same time to promote necesaary and fair structural reforms," he told reporters before a meeting with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.

[Reuters]