ATHENS, Greece — Greece pulled the emergency cord Thursday in its fraught bailout talks, opting to bundle its four payments due to the International Monetary Fund this month into one on June 30 — a course last followed three decades ago by Zambia.
The delay is allowed under IMF rules but provides a stark sign of how Greece is struggling to make ends meet without the vital rescue loans that have been withheld since last summer, as Athens and its creditors fail to agree on economic reforms.
The move follows the failure of radical left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to break the stalemate with creditors at a late-night meeting with European Commission leader Jean Claude Juncker and the top official representing Greece’s peers in the eurozone. The talks will resume “within coming days,” officials said.
On his return to Athens, Tsipras told government officials that “extreme proposals will not be accepted by the Greek government.”
