International lenders were granted more time to resolve their differences over changes to Greece’s €174bn bailout when Athens managed to raise sufficient funds to make a €5bn debt repayment due this week.
Athens yesterday sold €4.06bn in Treasury bills which, with funds expected to be raised from non-competitive bids, should allow it to redeem bills coming due on Friday.
Fears about Greece’s finances have been exacerbated by a deadlock between the International Monetary Fund and the EU over how to reduce the country’s debt – which sparked a public spat on Monday between Christine Lagarde, IMF chief, and Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurogroup of finance ministers.