*** EU ministers to thrash out Greek debt deal | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

EU ministers to thrash out Greek debt deal

Athens

 Eurozone finance ministers are set to hold new talks Wednesday to thrash out the details of a Greek debt deal, with officials terming the next 48 hours "decisive" as the clock ticks on a deadline for Athens to avert default.

 Hopes were high going in to the talks that Greece and its creditors can strike a deal with less than a week to go, but those could fade as the Greek premier must convince his anti-austerity party to approve concessions needed to unblock bailout funds.

 "We are very near (an agreement), the next 48 hours will be decisive," said Greek government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis Tuesday, ahead of the finance ministers' meeting and a full meeting of all 28 EU member states on Thursday.

 "I am convinced that we will reach an agreement," EU commissioner for economic affairs Pierre Moscovici told French radio Tuesday after Greece submitted an 11th-hour reform plan to free up crucial funds from its international bailout.

 An emergency eurozone summit ended Monday with an optimistic assessment of Athens' latest proposals to its European Union and International Monetary Fund creditors.

 The optimism drove Asian stocks up Wednesday morning, with Tokyo hitting a more than 18-year high on confidence of a deal.

 The euro bought $1.1185 and 138.54 yen in Tokyo midday trade Tokyo, down from $1.1393 and 139.95 yen in Asian trade on Tuesday.

 Moscovici warned however that "work remained to be done" on the issues of value-added tax and pension reform -- key sticking points for the radical left government in Athens.

 And the Greek government also issued a word of caution Tuesday, pointing out that any accord would have to be approved by a parliamentary majority before June 30.

 "If the agreement is not approved by the deputies of the governmental majority, the government cannot remain in place," Sakellaridis said.

 Getting approval could prove a tough battle for Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was elected on an anti-austerity platform, and may risk members of his hard-left Syriza party viewing him as reneging on campaign promises.

 Tsipras will also meet the leaders of Greece's creditors -- the EU's Jean-Claude Juncker, the ECB's Mario Draghi and the IMF's Christine Lagarde -- in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon.

 Greece is up against a deadline of June 30 to repay the IMF around 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion).

 Meanwhile growing fears of a bank run in Greece amid a huge outflow in deposits again prompted the European Central Bank on Tuesday to inject more emergency funding to cover withdrawals.