Greece fails to finish homework

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker decided the finance ministers would instead hold a telephone conference on Wednesday to prepare for the next regularly scheduled meeting of the group, on February 20. There they will also discuss Greece.

The country is anxiously awaiting approval of the 130-billion-euro ($170 billion) bailout, which would save it from defaulting on its loans in a matter of weeks.

"It has appeared that further technical work between Greece and the troika is needed in a number of areas," Juncker said.

Experts from the troika, made up of the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, had not yet completed an analysis of the stability of the Greece's debt.

Furthermore, the Greek government had neglected to provide a list of areas where a further 325 million euros could be cut this year. Athens had also failed to get written guarantees from the leaders of all Greek coalition parties committing themselves to sticking to the program of austerity measures beyond elections in April.

ncy/mll (dapd, AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)