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A top eurozone official says Greece has submitted “thorough” proposals aimed at getting a vital third bailout and averting a possible exit from the euro.
Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the eurozone would discuss a response to the plans on Saturday.
Germany has cautioned there is little room for easing Greece’s debt burden.
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras will put the plans, which contain many elements rejected in a referendum last Sunday, to a vote in parliament on Friday.
The prime minister submitted the proposals to Greece’s creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – by the Thursday deadline they had set.
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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde and Mr Dijsselbloem have held a conference call on the new proposals.
Mr Dijsselbloem said the new Greek paper was “a thorough piece of text” and that support from the Greek parliament would give it “more credibility”.
“But even then we need to consider carefully whether the proposal is good and if the numbers add up. We have to make a major decision. Whichever way.”
Analysis: Robert Peston, BBC economics editor
Only a few days ago Mr Tsipras won an overwhelming mandate from the Greek people, in a referendum, to reject more-or-less these bailout terms.
And today, on the back of that popular vote, he is signing up to the supposedly hated bailout. This is big politics that would make Lewis Carroll proud.
But here’s the point. If a way isn’t found to allow the banks to reopen within days – and the ECB simply maintaining Emergency Liquidity Assistance won’t come anywhere near to achieving that – the Greek economy will implode so that any bailout deal agreed this weekend will become irrelevant in weeks.
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Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels on Saturday. A meeting of Eurogroup leaders is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, followed by a full EU summit two hours later.
The Eurogroup is a body for eurozone ministers to discuss monetary policy.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he was optimistic and hoped a deal could be struck on Saturday so that the Sunday meetings would not be needed.
French President Francois Hollande said the new proposals were “serious and credible” and that the “Greeks have just shown their determination to remain in the eurozone”.
However Germany, which has been far less upbeat on a deal, would not comment in detail on the new plan.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said it was withholding judgment and waiting for the creditor institutions to give their opinion.
Finance ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said Germany would not accept any reduction of debt that caused it more losses.
“The outcome of the Eurogroup meeting on Saturday is completely open,” he said.
The language of debt
Haircut: A reduction in the value of a troubled borrower’s debts. In 2011, Greece’s private lenders received a massive 50% haircut of what they were owed. At this stage the Greeks are being careful not to ask for debt haircuts.
Debt restructuring or rescheduling: Altering the terms of a loan in order to extend the repayment period. It may also mean dismissing part of the money owed. US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has said Greece’s creditors should restructure the country’s debt, but that such a move would not necessarily mean writing off a part of what Greece owes them. The IMF’s boss Christine Lagarde has also said Greece needs debt restructuring.
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Full coverage of Greek debt crisis
In Athens, Mr Tsipras convened a meeting of his Syriza party ahead of the Greek parliamentary debate.
A government official quoted him as telling the party’s lawmakers that the referendum had given him a mandate to seek a better deal but not to leave the eurozone.
“We are all in this together,” he was quoted as saying.
Syriza parliamentary spokesman Nikos Filis said he was confident MPs would give the government the mandate to negotiate the new bailout package.
The coalition government has 162 seats in the 300-strong parliament, and also has the backing of many opposition MPs.
However, the BBC’s Mark Lowen in Athens says that no matter how it is packaged and whatever the positive spin, Mr Tsipras has made a major climb-down, with the measures he has agreed similar to what the creditors were demanding.
Further rallies for and against a new bailout are planned in Athens on Friday.
The measures submitted in the new Greek document include:
- tax rise on shipping companies
- unifying VAT rates at standard 23%, including restaurants and catering
- phasing out solidarity grant for pensioners by 2019
- €300m ($332m; £216m) defence spending cuts by 2016
- privatisation of ports and sell-off of remaining shares in telecoms giant OTE
- scrapping 30% tax break for wealthiest islands
Greece’s creditors have already provided more than €200bn in two bailouts since a rescue plan began five years ago.
The second bailout expired on 30 June.
Greece’s banks are still closed and the €60 (£43; $66) daily limit on cash machine withdrawals for Greeks, imposed on 28 June, remains in force. With a shortage of €20 notes, for many the withdrawal is in effect €50.
Crisis countdown
- 10 July: Greek parliament vote. ECB, EU and IMF discuss proposals at technical level
- 11 July: Eurozone finance ministers discuss plans (Brussels 13:00 GMT)
- 12 July: Eurogroup leaders meet (14:00 GMT) followed by summit of all 28 members of the European Union (16:00 GMT). Both Brussels
- 20 July: €3bn payment due from Greece to the European Central Bank
BBC