Eurozone leaders echo hopes for Greece deal

Eurozone leaders have echoed hopes that a deal can be struck within days to stop Greece defaulting on its debt, BBC News reported.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said new proposals offered by Greece constituted "some progress". But she said more work was needed and "time is short".

Greece must repay a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan by the end of the month.
If it fails to do so, it risks crashing out of the single currency.

Earlier, Greece's economy minister outlined new taxes on businesses and the wealthy that he hoped would break a deadlock with creditors.

The move was received with cautious optimism by leaders of 18 other eurozone nations gathered for an emergency summit in Brussels.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met the heads of Greece's three international creditors - the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) - in Brussels on Monday ahead of attending the summit.

After the talks ended on Monday evening, Mrs Merkel said that everyone taking part wanted Greece to stay in the eurozone, "myself included".

"The proposals offered by Greece today constitute some progress. However, it became clear during our discussions that there is a lot of work to be done and time is short," she said.