Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis expressed confidence that Eurozone finance ministers will approve Athens' request for a six-month loan extension on Friday, following days of a standoff between Greece and its creditors over the country's bailout.
Speaking outside the Greek parliament, Varoufakis said his proposal, which he will submit on Thursday ahead of a Euro group working group meeting, "will satisfy the Greek side and the Euro group." Greece's new leftist government wants an extension of the loans but not the austerity programme that came tied to its two international bailouts provided since 2010, totaling 240 billion euros (273 billion dollars).
European Central Bank had agreed to increase emergency funding for banks in Greece, from 65 billion euros to 68.3 billion euros.