Dresden, Germany - Debt-wracked Greece's battle to hammer out a deal with its creditors dominated a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations Thursday, with officials insisting much work still lay ahead.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble invited his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United States to the eastern city of Dresden for an "in-depth exchange of views" on a number of questions.
Issues on the official agenda range from the state of the global economy, to financial regulation, fighting tax evasion and ways of starving terror groups like the Islamic State of funding.
But it was the Greek crisis that was at the forefront of everyone's minds, after Athens prematurely declared a day earlier that a deal was imminent but was then forced to back-pedal as its creditors were more sceptical.
Berlin insists that the G7 -- of which Greece is not a member -- is not the correct forum for the debt talks, anyway.
But with all of the other key actors present -- notably International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and EU monetary affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici -- the subject loomed large.
On Wednesday, Athens had said it was close to a deal that would unlock badly-needed bailout funds for its struggling economy.
AFP
