DHAKA: Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has offered new concessions to the country’s creditors.

A letter to creditors obtained by the Financial Times says Tsipras is prepared to accept most conditions that were on the table before talks collapsed and he called a referendum, reports the BBC.

On Tuesday, eurozone finance ministers refused to extend the previous bailout.

Greece became the first European Union country to fail to repay a loan to the International Monetary Fund.

The Financial Times says that Tsipras was prepared to accept a deal made by creditors over the weekend, if a few changes were agreed.

The FT says a letter sent by Tsipras to creditors asked for only two changes: that a VAT discount to Greek islands is maintained, and that the process of raising the retirement age to 67 begins in October and not immediately.

Greece's national broadcaster ERT says Tspiras would accept a deal with only minor requests for changes.

European markets surged on the news Greece might be willing to accept a deal.

The BBC’s economics editor Robert Peston said Tsipras ‘seems to have caved in’.

Two key meetings are to take place to discuss aid for Greece, hours after Athens missed the deadline for a €1.5bn payment to the IMF.

In one, officials with the European Central Bank (ECB) will decide whether to grant an emergency loan to Greece.

In the second, eurozone finance ministers will discuss Greece’s latest proposal for a third bailout. It would last two years and amount to €29.1bn.

Ministers will discuss the proposal in a conference call at 15:30 GMT.

BDST: 1910 HRS, JUL 01, 2015
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