Deal with creditors hinges on debt relief – Tsipras

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Sunday that “significant steps” would be needed on reducing his country’s debt in order for Athens to finalize a long-delayed deal with its international creditors.

“The deal’s closure and the vote on measures (demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund) will happen . . . on the condition that there be significant steps in the meantime on (reducing) debt,” Tsipras told the Greek daily Ethnos in an interview published Sunday.