Merkel demands action from Greece to cement membership of Euro

[BERLIN] German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded urgent action from the Greek government to cement its position as a member of the single currency.

Ms Merkel told reporters that leaders of the Group of Seven nations meeting in Schloss Elmau, Germany, shared her goal of keeping Greece in the currency bloc and also backed her insistence that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras must deliver an economic program that can satisfy the country's creditors.

"There isn't much time left, that's the problem," Ms Merkel said at a press conference following the G-7 meeting.

"Every day counts now."

Greece and its creditors are wrangling over the measures required to unlock as much as 7.2 billion euros of aid from its bailout program and avert a chain reaction that could see the nation pushed out of the euro. A solution to the negotiations should be reached before June 14 but further high- level meetings will only happen if there is a chance of a deal, a French government official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.

BLOOMBERG