6:30 p.m. A spokesman for Greece says it was the creditors who ended bailout negotiations by presenting an ultimatum. Government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis predicts that ultimatum will be rejected in next Sunday's referendum — and says that will allow talks on Greece's financial future to resume on a sounder basis. He says "The Greek people's proud 'No' will mark the continuation of negotiations to achieve a real and substantial solution and not an agreement that will recycle the problems." The newspaper I Efimerida ton Syntakton published his comments Sunday. Sakellaridis said the government will respect the result of the referendum but did not say whether it would apply the creditors' measures or resign if the Greek people voted to accept the proposals. ___ 6:15 p.m. The Greek vote next Sunday on approving creditors' demands for Greece will be the country's first referendum in 41 years — and the logistics of it are daunting. The referendum that Parliament approved early Sunday sees citizens voting July 5 on two creditor proposals — one of which is a very technical debt sustainability analysis. These have not even been translated yet into Greek. Others argue the vote won't be on documents, it will be a vote on whether or not Greece stays in the euro. Ballot officials for each voting precinct must be called up, but these must be headed by lawyers, who often have to travel to remote places. The last Greek referendum was when voters abolished the monarchy in 1974. ___ 4:10 p.m. Greece's finance minister is suggesting that his country might not pay the 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) it owes to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis refused to reply to a direct question Sunday on the payment. Instead, he told BBC radio that the European Central Bank should pay the money to the IMF out of the profits it made on Greek bonds in 2014. Varoufakis calls that idea "a very sensible transfer." Asked directly, for the second time, whether Greece will pay up Tuesday, Varoufakis replies: "We are owed money by one part of the troika and we owe money to another part of the troika? Why don't they sort themselves out and transfer money from one pocket ... to the other?" ___ 3:35 p.m. The European Central Bank has announced it is maintaining emergency credit to Greek banks at its current level. The decision keeps a key financial lifeline open but does not provide further credit to Greece's banks, which are seeing deposits drain away as anxious Greeks withdraw savings. The ECB said it was working closely with the Bank of Greece to maintain financial stability and added it could reconsider the decision on credit levels. ECB head Mario Draghi said "we continue to work closely with the Bank of Greece and we strongly endorse the commitment of Member States in pledging to take action to address the fragilities of euro-area economies." ___ 3:20 p.m. France's prime minister is urging Greece and other nations to do whatever they can to keep Greece in the 19-nation bloc that uses the euro currency. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Sunday that "we don't know — none of us — the consequences of an exit from the eurozone, either on the political or economic front. We must do everything so that Greece stays in the eurozone." He was speaking on France's i-Tele TV. Valls added that "means respecting Greece and democracy, but it's also about respecting European rules. So Greece needs to come back to the negotiating table." Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' call for a national referendum on creditors' demands has thrown Greece's negotiations with its international lenders into turmoil. ___ 2:35 p.m. Germany's Foreign Ministry is advising travelers to Greece to ensure they have enough cash on them before they depart. An updated version of the ministry's travel advice issued Sunday noted that people seeking to withdraw cash in Greece could face "significant waits" and possible shortages at cash machines. Worried Greeks were lining up at ATM machines on Sunday, the day after the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for a referendum on creditors' financial proposals in return for rescue loans and creditors refused to extend Greece's international bailout beyond Tuesday. While some machines in Greece were running out of cash, others were being replenished. Another top Greek financial official urged Greeks on Sunday to remain calm and not withdraw all their savings. ___ 1:45 p.m. The European Central Bank faces a major decision. It has been allowing Greek banks to draw emergency credit from Greece's central bank, a financial lifeline that has been keeping Greece's four major banks going during the country's tense bailout negotiations with creditors. The ECB has been slowly increasing the emergency credit to compensate for the increase in withdrawals from Greek banks. But the ECB has said it can only continue such assistance if the banks are basically solvent. A failure by Greece's government to get more aid before its bailout ends Tuesday and a big payment to the International Monetary Fund is due could prompt the ECB to decide the Greek banks are not financially solid any more. Capping the aid would quickly force Greek banks to limit withdrawals — but such controls could take Greece a step closer to leaving the 19-nation eurozone. ECB President Mario Draghi has said it's up to elected officials to decide Greece's fate. Analysts say the central bank wants to give politicians every chance to negotiate a deal. ___ 12:50 p.m. Two opinion polls indicate most Greeks want to keep using the shared euro currency and would prefer a deal with Greece's European partners rather than a rupture. The polls published Sunday were both conducted before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared early Saturday that he was calling a referendum on financial proposals made by Greece's creditors in return for continuing to fund the country with bailout loans. Still, they provide an indication of public sentiment. In the poll by Alco for the Proto Thema Sunday paper, 57 percent said they believed Greece should make a deal with its EU partners while 29 percent wanted a rupture. A separate poll by Kapa Research for the To Vima newspaper found 47.2 percent of respondents would vote in favor of a new, painful agreement with Greece's creditors, compared to 33 percent who would vote no and 18.4 percent undecided. Both nationwide polls were conducted from June 24-26. The Alco poll had a margin of error of 3.1 percent while Kapa Research's was 3.09 percent. ___ 12:25 p.m. A Greek finance official says the government expects the European Central Bank to continue approving emergency liquidity assistance that Greek banks can draw even after Tuesday, when Greece's international bailout officially expires. The ECB was expected to meet Sunday to decide what action to take about Greece. The central is bank is under pressure to end that emergency assistance. A decision by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to call for a national referendum on creditor demands in exchange for bailout loans has thrown Greece's negotiations with its international lenders into turmoil. In response, other nations in the 19-nation eurozone are refusing to extend Greece's bailout program beyond its Tuesday expiration date. Alternate Greek Finance Minister Nadia Valavani told private Mega television on Sunday "we are expecting the funding of Greek banks to continue normally via the ELA after Tuesday." Worried Greeks have formed lines at ATM machines all weekend and some machines were running out of cash Sunday morning. Valavani said the country's banks could see "business as usual" next week if they receive the emergency support "so long as there is calm" and Greeks don't attempt to withdraw all their savings. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/133980.aspx
