article: It includes new taxes on businesses and the wealthy, Giorgios Stathakis told the BBC in an exclusive interview. Eurozone finance ministers have welcomed the plan, saying there could be a deal "within days". Greece will default if it does not repay a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) IMF loan by the end of the month. If that happens, it risks crashing out of the single currency and possibly the EU. Mr Stathakis told the BBC's Robert Peston he was confident Greece's new proposals to balance the government's books had broken the deadlock with its creditors. "We [will] try to remove the tax burden from pensions and wages towards business and the wealthy," he said. He said the proposals also included an increase in the VAT rate for some selected items. Greece's economy minister Giorgios Stathakis told me that his Syriza government, led by Alexis Tsipras, had avoided crossing its red lines with the new proposals. So, he said, there would be no further reductions in pensions or public-sector wages. And there would be no increase in VAT on electricity. He also said that the government had agreed with the IMF and eurozone governments that the targeted budget surplus would be 1% of GDP or national income this year, 2% next year and 3% the year after. There will be no agreement with creditors to cut Greece's massive burden of debt, despite Syriza's earlier insistence on this. But Mr Stathakis told me he expects eurozone government heads to issue a communique later saying that debt relief will be on the agenda for negotiation in coming months. Read more from Robert Speaking ahead of an emergency Eurogroup summit in Brussels on Monday, European Council president Donald Tusk said the latest Greek proposals were the "first real proposals in many weeks". "This evening I want all cards on the table. That doesn't mean I want to negotiate technical details, but it means I want to end this political gambling," he said. Talks have been in deadlock for five months. The European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB) are unwilling to unlock the final €7.2bn tranche of bailout funds until Greece agrees to economic reforms. Separately, the European Central Bank (ECB) again increased its emergency funding for Greek banks after anxious savers withdrew more than €4bn in recent days. Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, who has ruled out pension cuts, higher power rates, and an excessive budget surplus, said he hoped Greece would "return to growth within the eurozone". He met the heads of Greece's three international creditors in Brussels, ahead of his talks with the leaders of 18 other eurozone nations later on Monday. But eurozone finance ministers said they were not given enough time to study them for a proper assessment, amid confusion over different versions of the Greek proposals submitted. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Dijsselbloem described the proposals as "broad and comprehensive", but said work was needed to check they added up "in fiscal terms". One of the key power-brokers, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, told reporters his goal was to find an
summary: Greece's economy minister has spelled out the terms of new proposals to end deadlock on its debt crisis, amid hopes a deal can now be struck this week.