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Greek government does about-face on bailout

Posted at 10:19 AM, Jul 01, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-01 10:25:13-04

LONDON — Whoa! The Greek government is now ready to sign on to a bailout package it threw out just days ago, but the about-face won’t fix the country’s crisis any time soon. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wrote to European leaders and the International Monetary Fund late Tuesday, accepting most of the conditions they had attached to releasing more cash, a European official told CNNMoney. The official confirmed the contents of a letter first reported by the Financial Times.

European finance ministers will meet later Wednesday to discuss the dramatic reversal in the Greek government’s position. But it won’t spell the immediate end of Greece’s financial crisis, even if the about-face is given a favorable reception by the country’s creditors.

That’s because the only mechanism for Europe to hand over rescue loans expired at midnight. And Greece defaulted on a payment to the IMF Tuesday.

A new bailout agreement could take weeks to negotiate. Meanwhile, Greek banks remained shuttered, and the country’s economy weakens by the day.