Athens is about to enter uncharted waters without international aid for the first time in five years, sparking fears of a chaotic eurozone exit which could have untold repercussions for global markets and the EU. The Greek government asked the International Monetary Fund to extend its payment deadline on a payment of about 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) beyond 2200 GMT after eurozone finance ministers on Tuesday rejected an extension to the current aid programme.
The ministers will hold further talks Wednesday morning on a request for a new bailout. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras plunged talks with creditors into chaos when he announced a referendum for Sunday on whether to accept bailout reform plans that he said would humiliate the country.
"The practical circumstances is that the old programme expires tonight at 12 and practically and legally there's little we can do. Unfortunately the old programme will expire tonight," Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem told CNN. Greece now looks poised to become the first country to default on the IMF since Zimbabwe in 2001, and the wealthiest, in terms of standards of living.
Greece's creditors want leftist Tsipras to ditch Sunday's referendum and there were signs of movement from Athens, with Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat saying Greece had offered to suspend the vote if negotiations with the EU are reopened. There was no immediate confirmation from Athens, where the Greek premier's office said only that Athens had requested an 29.1 billion euro agreement with the European Stability Mechanism "to fully cover its financing needs and the simultaneous restructuring of debt".
The ESM, created in 2012, is designed as a means to handle financial crises in the eurozone and keep the single currency region stable. The proposal by Athens followed European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker's attempt to clinch a "last-minute" solution before the referendum which would involve accepting the EU-IMF reform proposals.