Greece spells out debt 'rescue' deal

Greece's economy minister has spelled out the terms of new proposals to end deadlock on its debt crisis, amid hopes a deal can now be struck this week.

It includes new taxes on businesses and the wealthy,Giorgios Stathakis told the BBC in an exclusive interview.

Eurozone finance ministers have welcomed the plan, saying there could be a deal "within days".

Greece will default if it does not repay a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) IMF loan by the end of the month.

If that happens, it risks crashing out of the single currency and possibly the EU.

Mr Stathakis told the BBC's Robert Peston he was confident Greece's new proposals to balance the government's books had broken the deadlock with its creditors.

"We [will] try to remove the tax burden from pensions and wages towards business and the wealthy," he said.

He said the proposals also included an increase in the VAT rate for some selected items.

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