Athens: Greece's gamble to delay loan repayments to the International Monetary Fund unnerved markets on Friday, while prominent government ministers said the country could be forced to hold early elections if creditors don't back down in bailout negotiations.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was due to brief Parliament on the course of the stalemated talks in an emergency session Friday evening, as outrage over creditor demands grew within his own Cabinet.
The government today asked to bundle together its four June IMF debt repayments totaling 1.6 billion euros (USD 1.8 billion) into one on June 30.
The first installment had been due today, and the move to delay payment raised fears that Greece's financial position is even worse than thought, threatening its place in the euro.
A Greek government official said the two discussed Greece's interest in participating in an investment bank being set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, known as BRICS. They also discussed bilateral business and energy cooperation.
