Troika officials: Greece is most unhelpful country ever; Greek stocks drop

Representatives of the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission complained that Greek officials aren’t adhering to a bailout extension deal reached in February or cooperating with creditors, the people who asked not to be identified told Bloomberg.

There is a growing fear among officials that the stubbornness of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government may end up forcing Greece out of the euro, as the country which is running out of cash refuses to take the action needed to obtain financial support.

Tsipras is hoping for a breakthrough on a meeting with ECB President Mario Draghi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker scheduled this week in Brussels.

Euro-region finance ministers are urging Greece to draft a plan to fix the economy in exchange for emergency loans to keep the country afloat.

As Tsipras expects his creditors to step back first, his government’s money is running out, raising the prospect of a cash crunch as early as this month. The country faces more than 2 billion euros in debt payments Friday, and government salaries and pensions must be at the end of March.

Greece Wednesday auctioned 1 billion euros in 13-week treasury bills, and accepted offers for 1.3 billion euros, the maximum amount allowed including non-competitive bids. The country’s debt management agency plans to tap another 300 million euros in second-day bids Thursday. The money will be used to roll over 1.6 billion euros of treasury redemptions due Friday.

Meanwhile, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the country could use capital controls to remain in the currency union.

In the meantime, Greek stocks dropped on Wednesday, with bank shares losing 6.6 percent as of 1:03 p.m. local time, after Djisselbloem’s comments on capital controls. The benchmark Athens Stock Exchange was down 3.9 percent. Yields on three-year bonds rose 12.2 basis points to 20.55 percent.

On Wednesday Greece’s parliament will vote on measures to deal with the country’s social crisis, including subsidizing electricity, food and housing for households in poverty.

On Tuesday the government also submitted legislation for repayment of tax arrears in 100 installments to be voted on Friday, which it hopes will provide a boost to the state coffers.