ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece may have to delay by a few days or weeks its planned exit from an EU/IMF bailout by the end of the year, the country's deputy prime minister said on Thursday, citing "technical reasons".
Greece is running short of time to clinch a deal on its final bailout review after talks in Paris with EU/IMF lenders failed to produce results, raising doubts about whether the country can exit its bailout by the end of the year as planned.
"The European programme ends on December 31. The aim is for the last tranche to be disbursed by December 31. If for technical reasons some procedures cannot be completed there could be an extension, but not a new bailout," Evangelos Venizelos told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
Asked about the extension, Venizelos said it could be for "weeks or a few days".
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, Writing by Deepa Babington)