Greece Seems Ready to Accept Lenders’ Bailout Terms

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will accept almost all of the bailout terms of the country’s creditors that were on the negotiating table last weekend, according to a letter he sent on late Tuesday night and which the Financial Times has revealed.

As the FT‘s Peter Spiegel notes, although the bailout’s expiry at midnight Tuesday night means the extension is no longer on the table, Mr. Tsipras’ two-page letter to the heads of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) could serve as the basis of a new bailout in the coming days.

In the letter, among other things, PM Tsipras says that Athens will accept all the proposed reforms to the VAT rate with one change — that the special 30 percent discount that currently applies to the Greek islands, many of which are in remote areas and difficult to supply, is maintained.