EU denies Greece nearing new loan deal

Greece and its creditors are not close to reaching a fresh debt deal despite Athens' claims, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Pierre Moscovici said Thursday.

"It is wrong to say, like the Greeks have, that we've gone three-quarters of the way to reaching a deal," Moscovici told French public radio, France Culture, on the sidelines of a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors in Germany.

"There's still a lot of work to do," he added.

"We are beginning to see reform projects that are consistent," Moscovici said, a day after Athens had announced that it was close to a loan deal with its creditors that would unlock badly-needed bailout funds for its struggling economy.

The Greek government subsequently back-pedalled after the G7 host, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, had retorted that no significant new breakthroughs had been achieved.

A Greek government spokesman said Thursday they hoped for a deal by Sunday.

"A deal is possible," Moscovici insisted, adding that if talks had foundered, "I would tell you."

He suggested that progress had been made on issues such as taxation and pensions.

While the Greek crisis is not officially on the agenda of the talks in Dresden, it was discussed because all of the key actors in the dossier -- including the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank -- were present.