Obama urges quick credit deal by Greece

ATHENS, Greece – Greece faced acute international pressure, notably from President Barack Obama, to secure a deal with creditors fast following days of acrimony that stoked fears of a Greek debt default and exit from the euro.

With Greece facing an end-of-month deadline to secure a deal, Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel led calls Monday for a swift resolution to Greece’s protracted bailout talks.

At the end of a G-7 summit in Elmau, Germany, Obama said there was a “sense of urgency” to resolve the situation.

“What it’s going to require is Greece being serious about making some important reforms,” Obama said. The Greeks, he added, will have to “make some tough political choices that will be good for the long term.”

Obama also stressed that the international community should “recognize the extraordinary challenges that Greeks face, and if both sides are showing sufficient flexibility, then I think we can get this problem resolved.”

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned time was running out, and that while Greece’s euro partners want the country to remain in the eurozone, Athens has to do its part by implementing reforms.

A resolution is needed by June 30, when Greece’s bailout program ends and the remaining $8.1 billion in rescue loans will no longer be available. Without the funds, Greece cannot repay its debts and could end up crashing out of Europe’s joint currency.

Discussions hit a wall late last week, when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras rejected as unacceptable a proposal from the three institutions overseeing Greece’s bailout – the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund and European Commission.

Worries of a Greek default and euro exit kept markets in check Monday – the Stoxx 50 index of leading European shares closed 0.8 percent lower and the Athens Stock Exchange closed 2.7 percent lower.