ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s government wound up yet another round of talks with its creditors Thursday without a breakthrough that would unfreeze bailout payments, although a Greek official said progress has been made and differences can be ironed out in the next week and a half.
Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said the main point of friction is Greece’s bid to restore collective wage bargaining.
“In any case, we will try to bridge these differences in coming days,” he said.
The current talks were initially scheduled for completion last year, and the delay has increased jitters over the country’s prospects amid a sharp drop in October-December output.
A deal would allow the release of loans from the country’s 86-billion euro bailout, without which Athens will be unable to handle a summer spike in scheduled debt payments.