G-20 chiefs plea for 'cooler heads' in Greek crisis
G-20 chiefs plea for 'cooler heads' in Greek crisis · CNBC

The brewing crisis over Greece's debt and the country's future in the euro zone is expected to dominate talks at the latest G-20 summit in Istanbul Monday as the world's finance leaders expressed concern that Greece is on an unstoppable collision course with its international lenders.

The impasse between Greece and its lenders took a turn for the worse Sunday when the new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed to push on with promises to roll back on austerity measures and stressed that his country would not be asking for an extension to its current bailout, which is due to end February 28.

The "troika" of international bodies overseeing Greece's bailout loans -- the European Central Bank (ECB), European Commission and International Monetary Fund - has said it won't release a last tranche of aid to Greece until the government makes a commitment to continue with the conditions of its bailout, including austerity. The ECB has also refused Greece's request for a bridging loan once its bailout ends later this month.


On Monday, global finance leaders expressed concerns that the window of opportunity for a solution was closing.

"I think there is still an opportunity for all sides to have a negotiation but I think (that is) narrowing pretty quickly so let's hope we can find a way through this," Timothy D. Adams, the president and chief executive of the Institute of International Finance, told CNBC on the sidelines on the G20 summit Monday.

"I think there is a way through this crisis but it requires cooler heads to prevail, (they need to) tone down the rhetoric and roll up their sleeves and get to work on a solution. I believe there is a solution but the rhetoric doesn't help."

Greece is likely to be the hot topic for finance ministers from the group of 20 nations (G-20) when they meet in Istanbul Monday and Tuesday to discuss the global economy and the political and economic stability of Europe as Greece plays hard ball over its bailout.

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Attempting to add weight to Greece's bargaining position, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Sunday that if Greece is forced out of the euro zone, other countries would inevitably follow and the currency bloc would collapse.

Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) told CNBC that he would do whatever he can to prevent Greece dramatically exiting the single currency union - a so-called "Grexit."