Before the referendum, the Greeks said they needed €7.2 billion to extend the bailout. Now, after that proposal was turned down by the Greeks in the referendum, the lid has been lifted and the request now is for €74 billion at least.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna told the media as he entered the Lex building for the second day of the Eurogroup that there is a lot of uncertainty around and it is not fair that countries are being split according to whether they are for a Yes or a No. He was undoubtedly referring to reports such as CNN and La Repubblica which put Malta in opposing sides.
On the contrary, Minister Scicluna added, all countries in the Eurogroup are sceptical and suspicious of the numbers that are being mentioned.
Also, the Greek public debt had been put at 125% of its GDP and now it is being estimated at 200%.
The ministers are exploring ways of extending the present agreement and Malta is one of such countries, but not to the extent of putting in place a haircut.
Asked about news reports on Saturday that German finance minister Schauble had proposed a Grexit for five years, (which was then reportedly turned down by the Commission), Minister Scicluna said that proposal was not mentioned in Saturday's meeting.
Open Europe added two tweets quoting Minister Scicluna:
Maltese Fin Min Scicluna: we've got enough heads & expertise to come up with good framework
Scicluna: Will get more trust & be more convinced frm seeing Greece turning around rather than big package which will not be implemented
Stubb: No-one is blocking a deal
Finland’s finance minister, Alex Stubb, has also denied that some eurogroup members (such as the Finns) are trying to thwart a bailout agreement:
Stubb’s full comments as he arrived: “No one is blocking a deal, we are all constructively trying to find a solution in a very difficult situation. What we are saying is that the conditionality that has been presented by the Greeks are simply not enough at this stage.”
“We need to have clear commitments, clear conditionality and clear proof that those conditions will be implemented at the end of the day. I am still hopeful but I think we are very far away from the type of conditionality we need.
”If this was a negotiation from one to 10, I think we’re still standing somewhere between 3 and 4. So making progress but not there yet.
"There are basically three litmus tests here. Number one is the stability of the euro zone and Greek finances. Number two is debt sustainability and then number three is basic financing.
"If we get those right and we link those to very tough conditionality which has to do with pensions, which has to do with VATs, which has to do with structural reforms, etc, then we might find a deal
"No one is blocking a deal, we’re all constructively trying to find a solution in a very difficult situation. The conditionality that has been presented by the Greeks is simply not enough at this stage.
"We need to have clear commitments, clear conditionality and clear proof that those conditions will be implemented at the end of the day.
Last night, the Finnish news channels were buzzing with reports that Finland wouldn’t support a Greek bailout, for fear that the eurosceptic True Finns party would revolt and bring down the two-month-old coalition government.
The Finnish prime minister has declared that the government is united on the issue."
Despite an optimistic statement from Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the country's Economy and Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has been a little more downbeat.
"The main obstacle to moving forward is lack of trust. I would like to see the Greek government take concrete actions starting tomorrow in parliament to implement measures that are needed for Greece in the first place and then rebuild trust to allow concrete negotiations to move forward. We have lost so much time, we cannot afford to lose more."
Cyprus backs Greece
Harris Georgiades, Cyprus' finance minister, said his country wants Greece to remain in the eurozone but that choices based on populism and extremes won't lead to a deal.
"We have to work less on the basis of emotion and more on the basis of reason and the difficult, but necessary choices that will create prospects."