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The Greek government has 7 days to come to an agreement with the creditors. If Athens refuses to take a decision by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest it will irretrievably lose the
bailout programme.

The EuroWorking Group participants made that statement after their teleconference meeting last night at which the euro zone economic experts discussed the rescue programme to Cyprus but also considered the pace of negotiations with Greece.

According to well-informed sources, the President of the Greek Council of Economic Experts George Houliarakis was presented with an ultimatum that if Athens did not complete the assessment of the performance of the bailout programme by Wednesday or Thursday, it would be no longer valid.

The same sources indicate that the euro zone economic experts sharply criticized Greece's position on VAT rates, the changes in the pension system and the size of the budget surplus.

The reason for setting the deadline is that, after 4 June, the parliaments of the euro zone member states they will not have enough time to ratify the likely agreement between Athens and the "institutions".

Stopping the programme would mean that Greece would lose 1.8 billion euro of the remaining tranche from the European Financial Stability Facility and the amount of 10.9 billion euro that would be provided for the capitalization of Greek banks, if required. Following the Eurogroup agreement of 20 February the European Financial Stability Facility has held the money that is available until 30 June.

Stopping the programme would also mean blocking the financing of Greece from the International Monetary Fund as well as significant cuts of the liquidity that Greek banks obtain from the European Central Bank.

The Greek media report that the presentation of the ultimatum was followed by a teleconference call between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, which started at 5:30 pm and lasted one hour.

The Greek government has not provided any information on the topics of discussion between the three leaders. Immediately after it, a cabinet meeting involving Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis and coordinator of the economic programme of the government Yiannis Dragasakis was convened at the government residence Maximou.

The creditors indicate that the progress in reaching an agreement with Greece is limited, adding that an extraordinary meeting of the council of euro zone ministers of finance on this issue has not been planned for the time being.

Greek government sources in turn deny that the government has to take action within a specific period, saying, "The negotiations are difficult, but there is no ultimatum."

Athens argues that the negotiations "are producing results" and they will continue in the coming days in order to reach an initial agreement. The same sources note that the Greek side has to handle a huge volume of work and the time remaining until the bailout extension expires in late June is not enough.