Eurozone leaders echo hopes for Greek deal

Eurozone leaders have echoed hopes that a deal can be struck within days to stop Greece defaulting on its debt.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said new proposals offered by Greece constituted "some progress". But she said more work was needed and "time is short".

Greece must repay a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan by the end of the month.

If it fails to do so, it risks crashing out of the single currency.

Although no deal has been struck, the blockages on a way to a deal appear to have been cleared, BBC Europe Correspondent Damian Grammaticas reports from Brussels.

Earlier, Greece's economy minister outlined new taxes on businesses and the wealthy that he hoped would break a deadlock with creditors.

The move was received with cautious optimism by leaders of 18 other eurozone nations gathered for an emergency summit in Brussels.

Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker said they were hopeful for an agreement

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met the heads of Greece's three international creditors - the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) - in Brussels on Monday ahead of attending the summit.

After the talks ended on Monday evening, Mrs Merkel said that everyone taking part wanted Greece to stay in the eurozone, "myself included".

"The proposals offered by Greece today constitute some progress. However, it became clear during our discussions that there is a lot of work to be done and time is short," she said.

Analysis by Chris Morris, BBC Europe correspondent

As political and economic pressure mounted on Greece, it finally gave some ground - with proposals to cut its overall pension bill and raise more money from VAT. As he left the summit, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the ball was now in the court of the European leaders. But after a bruising five months of negotiation, there is still plenty of scepticism about Greece around the eurozone. Earlier, finance ministers prompted by Germany's Wolfgang Schauble argued about whether capital controls should be introduced, as significant amounts of money continue to be withdrawn from Greek banks.

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