Dresden

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sought to play down Friday assertions by Athens that Greece is on the verge of reaching a deal with its creditors.

"The positive reports out of Athens don't fully reflect the state of talks," Schaeuble said at the close of a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors in Dresden.

[AFP]

By Ian Wishart & Hans Nichols

Talks on a possible third bailout for Greece can begin once its government bridges ?substantial? differences with creditors over its current loan arrangement, European Union economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.

By Ian Wishart & Hans Nichols

Greece's creditors said a deal to unlock rescue aid isn't imminent as they demanded the debt-ravaged nation make stronger commitments to overhaul its economy.

Athens optimism for a deal by Sunday was questioned by its international creditors (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) at the G7 summit in Dresden, Germany, who warned that more work must be done.

A barrage of comments by representatives of Greece’s international creditors (European Commission, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund) on Thursday indicate that a solution may not be as close as Greek officials have stated.

Crunch time for Greek state finances generated another three-way teleconference on Friday between Angela Merkel, Francoise Hollande and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, reportedly lasting one hour.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde reiterated on Thursday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit from Dresden, that a deal between institutional creditors and the cash-strapped Greek state is unlikely “very soon”.

While negotiations in the Brussels Group are peaking, and there is an obvious battle against time to cover up all the gaps still blocking an agreement, there is a lot of movement on the part of Institutions to find a solution on Greece. The G7 Summit will also see Greece discussed heavily.

Greece and its international creditors are "three quarters of the way" to reaching a deal, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Pierre Moscovici said Thursday.

After Wolfgang Schaeuble and Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s statements which “froze” the Greek government’s optimism over negotiations, French FinMin Michel Sapin also stated that if a deal was close to being reached, “you’d know about it”.

On the way to the G7 summit in Dresden, Michel Sapin stated that Greece’s time is running out.