Greece in 'final stage' of bail-out talks as bank shares collapse for a third day

1	As shares in Greece's benchmark index continued to plummet, Alexis Tsipras said meetings between the government and Greece's creditors had made good progress.
2	"We are in the final stretch," said Mr Tsipras.
3	"Despite the difficulties we are facing we hope this agreement can end uncertainty on the future of Greece."
4	Greek bank shares plunged for a third day on Wednesday, after the end of a five-week shutdown sparked the biggest stock market drop on record.
5	Bank shares have fallen close to the maximum 30pc allowed for two straight days.
6	Discussions between Greece and representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central Bank (ECB), European Commission (EC) and the European Stability Mechanism, or bail-out fund, started in the last week of July.
7	Mr Tsipras suggested that the European Parliament should also be involved in talks, describing it as a "democratic" and "accountable" institution.
8	He said: "It should at some point be under the control and monitoring of the European Parliament, a democratic institution which has accountability," Mr Tsipras said.
9	Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the EC, echoed Mr Tsipras's comments on Wednesday.
10	He told reporters that an agreement on a third bailout for Greece was likely to be agreed this month.
11	"All the reports I am getting suggest an accord this month, preferably before the 20th," when Greece must repay some €3.4bn due to the ECB, Mr Juncker said.
12	Greece's ruling party also urged its members on Wednesday to back a third bail-out deal.
13	Nikos Filis, a spokesman for Syriza, said Athens was seeking a full agreement so that it could receive a first payment of €25bn.
14	He rejected the idea of a second bridging loan.
15	Good progress?
16	"We are seeking to have a deal," he told state television station.
17	"The deal will have tough measures. What is important is that the financing of the Greek economy starts.
18	"We will not accept new [reform conditions] in order to have a small bridge loan," Filis said.
19	"We want one final deal to be signed and then we will see what is needed to have a disbursement."
20	Euclid Tsakalotos, Greece's finance minister, said on Tuesday that talks to privatise €50bn worth of Greek assets - a condition of the agreement - had also made good progress.
21	"We have submitted a proposal to [the creditors]," he said.
22	"There were small divergences in views. I don't think there will be a problem. Discussions have gone better than I expected."
23	A deal must be must be settled by August 20 - or a second bridge loan agreed - if Greece is to pay off a €3.5bn debt owed to the European Central Bank.
24	It came as the ECB reportedly decided on Wednesday to leave its emergency credit lifeline for Greece unchanged for the next two weeks.
25	Last month, the central bank raised its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) for Greece's struggling banks by €900m to €90.4bn, after Athens and its creditors reached an in-principle agreement for a third rescue package.
26	A separate survey of eurozone businesses showed growth accelerated at the end of last month as companies largely put the Greek debt crisis behind them.
27	With conditions and sentiment improving in the bloc after the deal, Markit's July final Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 53.9, beating an earlier estimate of 53.7.
28	"The eurozone economy showed reassuring resilience in the face of the Greek debt crisis in July," said Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist.
29	However, an earlier gauge this week showed Greek manufacturing output fell to the lowest level ever recorded as capital controls strangled Greek businesses.