Greece to extend fiscal contingency mechanism to 2019

Greece may extend a contingency mechanism by a year until 2019 to ensure it meets fiscal targets and end a stalemate in talks with its euro zone lenders and the IMF over a bailout review, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday.
Talks between Athens and the foreign lenders on its bailout progress have dragged on for months due to differences on labour and energy reforms as well as on fiscal targets and debt relief measures beyond 2018.
Greece's EU lenders want the country to achieve and maintain a primary surplus - after interest payments - of 3.5 percent of GDP beyond the programme's end in 2018.