Greece awaiting response to new debt proposal

The Greek government said it has yet to receive a response to the debt proposal it submitted on Monday to financial institutions, government officials confirmed on Wednesday, hours before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will attempt to push negotiations forward in Brussels, Efe news agency reported.

Athens issued to the troika of financial institutions -- the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund -- two supplemental texts to its 47-page reform plan, which addressed alternative formulas to cover the budget deficit along with initiatives to ensure sustainability.

Government officials remarked that the proposals were presented on Monday afternoon to European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, and that so far no response has been given to the Greek delegation in Brussels.

In total, the measures proposed by Athens would amount to more than 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion), nearly a billion euros shy of the 3.5 billion euros the institutions require.

Tsipras is expected to hold another meeting on Wednesday night with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande despite the European Union summit in Brussels trying to give a political push to the negotiations and unlock the remaining 7.2 billion euros of Greece's bailout programme.