No deal for Greece as partners play hardball

Hopes of a deal had been dashed early yesterday when German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, told reporters not to expect any deal. And so it proved, as the meeting reportedly yielded a concession from Mr Tsipras about the pace at which his government would implement reforms. The Greek leader has been informed that until the reforms are enacted and implemented, the Greek authorities will not receive any of the €7.2 billion remaining in its existing bailout. However, it remains to be seen how much time the Greek government has before it runs out of cash, and such uncertainty is likely to prompt heightened fears about a possible “grexident”

Elsewhere in Europe today, the Producer Price Index in Germany showed a contraction of -2.1% for the year to February, figures which show that price levels in Europe remain well below target.

In Spain, trade figures are expected to show that the deficit has increased slightly to €1.9 billion, while figures for the Euopean current account are likely to show that the surplus shrank from €29.2 billion last month to just under €1o billion this.

On currency markets, the euro was back trading at levels seen at the beginning of the week, at $1.0686. British lender HSBC caused something yesterday when it released a prediction that stated that the rally of the dollar was already over extended, and that it expected the exchange rate to settle near $1.20 later in the year.