Creditors expected in Greece by Sunday night

Athens

Representatives from Greece's international creditors are expected to arrive in Athens by Sunday night to start talks on a huge new international bailout for the crisis-hit country, a Greek government source said Saturday.

A European Commission spokesperson, however, could not confirm the plans, saying only that representatives of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund  from whom Greece is seeking a bailout worth up to 86 billion euros ($94 billion) over three years  would fly out to Athens "in the coming days".

The two sides are under enormous pressure to hammer out the rescue deal before August 20, when Athens is scheduled to make a loan repayment of 3.2 billion euros to the ECB that it cannot currently afford.

A Greek government source said on the condition of anonymity that negotiators from the three institutions, collectively known as the troika, were set to arrive "by the end of Sunday night", with talks "probably" starting on Monday.

An official from the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's bailout fund, would also be heading to Athens, the source said.

Greece's radical-left government struck a deal on July 13 with the creditors to introduce tough economic reforms in exchange for the bailout, which it hopes will prevent it from defaulting on its enormous debts and crashing out of the eurozone.