Greece still deadlocked with creditors as Tuesday deadline looms

Eurozone finance ministers ended their meeting Thursday without asolution to the Greece debt crisis after yesterday's talks between Athens and its creditors alsoended in deadlock.

Greece and its creditors the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and the European Commission had presented competing proposals to the finance ministers.

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They are still at an impasse at issues such as pension reform, including what year to move the retirement age to 67 and whether to continue to provide top-up funding to Greece's poorest pensioners.

Another sticking point has been the overhaul of the value-added tax system, with the EU wanting processed foods and restaurants taxed at a higher rate and insisting on removal of an exemption for the Greek islands.

The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, says Greece's creditors need more time to examine new offers Athens has made.

"We were given a proposal by the Greek parties at the last hour. We need to doso some more work to examine their proposals, to see how it can be reconciled," she said.

EU leaders meet

Greece's economy ministerGiorgos Stathakissaid concessions had been made on both sides.

As Europe's leaders arrived for asummit in Brussels, Germany's Angela Merkel warned talks were going nowhere.

Officials have "not yet made the necessary progress" in the talks to get Greece more financial aid, she told reporters and "in some places we even have the impression that we are falling back a bit."

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande is exhorting Greece and its international creditors to speed up talks on new loans for the country, as a default would affect the entire continent.

Greece faces default if it fails to make a 1.6 billion euro ($2.2 billion Cdn) IMF debt repayment by Tuesday.

And if it fails to make the payment, it may opt to withdraw from the euro, which could roil markets and affect the entire eurozone.

On the other hand, deep concessions by Greece could leave Tsipras in trouble, as he could face parliamentary defeat over heightened austerity. His Syriza party was elected in January on an anti-austerity platform geared at reviving the Greek economy.

Banks in trouble

Greek banks may lose their lifeline from the ECB and be forced to limit withdrawals as soon as Monday.

Worried Greeks have been withdrawing their money from their country's banks, fearing the imposition of restrictions on banking transactions. An estimated more than 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) left Greek banks last week.

A Greek banking official says the European Central Bank has approved a request from Athens to increase the amount of emergency liquidity Greek lenders can tap from the country's central bank.

The ECB approved the request Thursday, as it has done every day since Friday as Greece headed into the final stretch of tough bailout negotiations with no clear solution in sight.