Greece crisis: Minister of State Alekos Flabouraris hopes for 18 June deal despite IMF setback

Greece's state minister Alekos Flabouraris said he hopes a deal between Greece and its creditors will be reached by 18 June, when the Eurogroup is meeting in Luxembourg, despite a major setback last night (11 June), when the IMF dramatically left talks with Greece.

Flabouraris said he still hoped for a deal and both parties had been optimistic about the talks and developments over the last weeks.

"I hope it will come very soon, on June 18, when the Eurogroup takes place," he told state broadcaster ERT regarding a deal.

However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave up last night and said talks were deadlocked over finances, taxes and pensions, the main points Greece and its creditors have stumbled over for a long time.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said that the disagreements were too big in those key areas. He told reporters: "There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently, and thus we are well away from an agreement."

In talks with all of Greece's creditors, the country's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came under pressure as the Troika lenders started to lose their patience again in this round of talks.

Rice assured reporters, however, that it was not the end yet and that he is dedicated to a deal: "The IMF never leaves the table. We remain engaged - but the ball very much is in Greece's court right now."

Talks with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker did not seem to bring a lot more optimism to the table.

An EU diplomat told Reuters: "If the process was working properly the president would not have had to have a meeting with Tsipras today. President Juncker made a last attempt to make a deal possible."

Key European indices such as the FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX suffered from the setback in talks at the end of a relatively good trading day.

The FTSE is expected to open 25 points down at 6870, according to Accendo Markets analysts Mike van Dulken & Augustin Eden.

"Creditor rhetoric become notably aggressive towards Greek PM Tsipras in terms of continued backtracking on 'progress' ... as clock ticks towards key debt payments, the coffers run dry and ... Eurozone exit becomes distinct possibility," they said.