European leaders rejected the Greek budget yet again
After another round of negotiations Tuesday between Greece and the troika (the ECB, the European Commission, and the IMF). Greece presented a new revised budget, and its creditors said thanks but no thanks. Try again.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers the plan won't gain approval from creditors and that Greece will submit a new offer in coming days, according to another person. The people asked not to be identified speaking on confidential matters.
A European Union spokeswoman declined to comment and Greek officials didn't immediately return calls. A Commission spokesman said earlier Tuesday that more time is needed to bridge the gap between the two sides. Greece offered to have a sales tax of 15 percent on most goods and a 6.5 percent rate for basic one, with an additional surplus of up to 3 percent for cash payments, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Tuesday.
After the meeting, the Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, tweeted:
According to Twitter's translation tool, here's the English:
The troika Interior rejected our proposals on VAT. The Brussels Group but will discuss tomorrow and Thursday in Brussels!!!
Talks have been ongoing for months, and the troika is withholding its agreed-upon loan to the Greeks until the the creditors find the Greek budget satisfactory. Greece is rumored to be close to being out of cash, although in recent estimates analysts expect the government to to be able to make payments through June.
Regardless of what happens in round 4,238,905 of negotiations (rough estimate), Varoufakis at least seems three exclamation points excited for it - as is Business Insider.