Greek PM And EU Officials Can't Even Agree To Disagree

Only a few minutes after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that the Greek debt negotiations are in their "final stretch" and a deal is imminent, EU officials rushed to a rebuttal. The Guardian noted that European Commission insiders are insisting that Greece is not on the brink of a deal, while Reuters published a rebuttal from European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, who said that "we are working very intensively to ensure a staff-level agreement. We are still not there yet." Meanwhile, the markets seemed to side with the Greek optimism. Yields on 10-year Greek government bonds dropped 67.7 basis points while European stocks surged. Perhaps already anticipating some incredulity, Tsipras had earlier said that "...there might be pressure, there might be many that will create a false sense of danger," in a standup news conference while walking out of a meeting on the bailout negotiations. "I want to assure the Greek people that through the negotiations we guarantee security and stability for the Greek economy," Tsirpas said, adding that the details will be presented "soon". He also insisted that "there is absolutely no danger for salaries or pensions, for banks or deposits," and reiterated that the deal will be "positive for the Greek economy."