(MENAFN- AFP) The Greek stock exchange dropped by more than 3.0 percent on Monday ahead of a crunch meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels over Athens' controversial proposals to overhaul its bailout.
The benchmark Athex Composite index fell after opening to 865.75 points amid investor fears that Greece and its international creditors, led by European paymaster Germany, would fail to reach an agreement.
"Time and money are running out for Greece," Holger Schmieding of Berenberg financial analysts said in a note.
"A subtle change in tone in Athens suggests that the new Greek government has started to notice," he added.
"But whether Prime Minister (Alexis) Tsipras has really grasped how close he has already pushed Greece to the abyss of wholesale financial crisis, recession and 'Grexit', and whether he is ready to perform the inevitable U-turn to avoid that fate remains a very open question," he said.
Tsipras has admitted the meeting of the 19 eurozone finance ministers, which kicks off at 1400 GMT, will be "difficult" and that "it is early to speak of an agreement."
Greece risks being forced out of the euro -- in what has been dubbed a "Grexit" -- if a deal is not found by the end of the month, when its mammoth 240 billion euro bailout runs out.
The EU has urged Greece to prolong its bailout, without which it fears Athens will default on its debts, but the new hard-left government has refused to apply for an extension and wants a new deal.
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