Eurogroup Ministers Downplay Hopes Of Imminent Greek Deal

Global stock markets were rallying on Greek deal hopes on Monday, but Eurogroup finance ministers dashed optimism of an imminent agreement when arriving for a meeting in Brussels. In his doorstep comment, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem said it was "impossible to have a final assessment" at the Eurogroup gathering as the latest reform proposal from Greece "only came in very, very recently." Dijsselbloem's comments were echoed by Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, who both said they had low expectations for the meeting on Monday. The Eurogroup gathering came ahead of an emergency summit of eurozone leaders scheduled for 7 p.m. Brussels time, or 1 p.m. Eastern Time, where the state heads will try to solve the Greek debt crisis at a political level. In comments earlier on Monday, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also downplayed expectations of a deal breakthrough Monday.