US Treasury secretary calls for flexibility in Greece negotiations

In a phone conversation with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said all parties need to be “flexible to successfully conclude the negotiations” on Greece’s economic reform.

In a statement Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department released a summary of the conversation in which both sides agreed on the “importance” of Greece, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European institutions “constructively working together” to complete the first review of Greece’s economic reform program.

Lew also stressed “the importance of Europe following through on its commitment to put Greece’s debt on a sustainable path through meaningful debt relief”.

Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, meanwhile, called for an extraordinary meeting of eurozone economy and finance ministers on May 9 in an attempt to seal the first review of the third bailout for Greece and contingency measures needed for Athens.

The Extraordinary Eurogroup meeting takes place after the informal meeting originally scheduled Thursday could not be held because an agreement between the creditors and Greece was not reached.

Heads of the European Commission (EC), the European Stability Mechanism, the European Central Bank and the IMF have returned to their headquarters but will continue working to forge an agreement in the coming days.

Greece’s economy has been strained for several years because of the country’s multibillion euro debt accumulated after the 2008 world economic crisis.

Athens signed a deal with its creditors last year for a third bailout package worth about $96 billion in exchange for unpopular austerity reforms in a move that diminished the threat of Greece defaulting on its debt and exiting the eurozone.