Eurogroup agrees Greece loan extension
After a week of tense negotiations, Greece and its Eurozone partners have agreed a deal to end its €172bn loan standoff.
The Eurogroup of finance ministers entered into last minute negotiations this afternoon.
The new deal, which provides Greece with a four month extension on its loans, does not include an explanation of the conditions Athens must comply with in order to receive the additional cash. These will be supplied by Greece on Monday.
Earlier today the euro reversed some of its losses against the dollar, rising to 1.1361 against the dollar, having dropped as low as 1.1285 earlier in the day, as negotiations between the Eurogroup of finance ministers continued.
Before the meeting, Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said the country was asking its Eurozone partners to "meet us not half of the way – but one fifth of the way" on reaching an agreement over extending its loan agreement.
In a press conference, Varoufakis said it had gone "not an extra mile, but an extra 10 miles", adding that "I most certainly hope that there is going to be an agreement, and I trust that we are going to have one".
However, at the same event German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was rather less optimistic.
"There is nothing new to say," he said. "We will see what will happen today."
The comments came shortly after European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told a German magazine that a "Greek exit [from the euro] won't happen".
Juncker said in an interview with German magazine Wirtschafts Woche that he views Greece as a member of the "Euro family".
I feel certain that the Greek letter for a six-month extension of the loan agreement with the conditionalities that accompany it will be accepted.