DRESDEN, Germany (AP) – Finance ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies heard a sharp call from U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to find agreement on more financial help for Greece.
Lew said that further delaying Europe’s six-month old talks with Greece was “courting an accident” – such as a Greek default or messy exit from the euro, which could have unpredictable effects on the global and European economies.
Lew said Friday at the end of meetings in Dresden, Germany, that “too much time has been spent unproductively and the challenge is to treat this week as a week in which there has to be progress.”
Greece faces large debt repayments in June on its bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund. Despite two bailouts totaling 240 billion euros from the IMF and other countries that use the euro currency, the country has not been able to repair its finances and economy enough to pay its bills.
It faces a large payment on June 5, one of four due during the month.