Greece can pay wage, pensions next week: Official
The Greek government can make wage and pension payments next week with or without a deal with European creditors, the country's economy minister told CNBC on Tuesday.
Giorgos Stathakis also said the the country would request emergency aid of between 18 and 24 months with the European Stability Mechanism rescue fund on Wednesday.
Greek pensioners, already under pressure due to capital controls that limit their bank withdrawals, have been watching closely to see if the government could even make the next scheduled payment. Stathakis indicated it was possible.
"As long as we end on abalanced budget, yes," he said in an interview.
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He also said Greece was seeking a medium-term financing deal from Europe.
"The discussions, up until last week, looking forward for a solution duration of 18 months until the end of '16. And I think this would be the ideal solution," Stathakis said on Tuesday, adding that anything less than that would "keep uncertainty about."
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EU leaders are likely to hold a summit on Sunday to consider the Greek question, a source said.
Stathakis was not ready to concede, though, that Greece would have to agree to a tougher deal now than the one that was on the table two weeks ago.
"I think we should take into consideration the Greek referendum and try to find a more balanced approach, a more compromised approach that would also find, produce less austerity because this is the message and a more viable solution to the Greek problem," he said.
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