BRUSSELS
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet again in the coming days with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem to continue with the Greek debt talks, the European Commission said on Thursday.
"I cannot confirm a specific date for that, but I can confirm that there will be a further meeting in the next coming days," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters in Brussels.
Negotiations on Wednesday broke down over a number of issues that have dogged progress throughout, including the fraught question of the size of the primary surplus that the Greek government is being asked to maintain.
"There has been considerable progress; there are certain issues where gaps need to be bridged," Schinas said.
Tsipras has said that an agreement on the amount of primary surpluses was close. Greece has proposed a budget surplus of 0.8 percent for this year and 1.5 percent for 2016. However, lenders want a budget surplus of one percent for 2015 and two percent for next year.
Speaking earlier Tsipras said his country had made difficult concessions to its creditors in an attempt to secure an agreement:
“A number of points have been resolved. The talks will continue in the next few days.”
Creditors have not commented on the most recent negotiations.
Greece has until the end of the month to repay about $2 billion in loan installments to the International Monetary Fund. It is not clear whether the government can make the payments.
