Greeks Promised Economic Boost Despair of Seeing Debt Deal

Across the country in places like Corinth, an industrial hub about 80 kilometers west of Athens, Greeks have spent years treading water as news bulletins bombard them daily with reports of meetings and decisions in Brussels and Frankfurt that will determine their economic future. In the meantime, as the ECB's stimulus measures -- including its asset-purchase program -- buoy the rest of the euro-area economy, Greece's output has been stagnant, leaving its people the most pessimistic in the region.

Yet the ECB remains unlikely to include Greek bonds in its QE program in the foreseeable future, according to a person familiar with the matter. That's because a meeting on Thursday of euro-area finance ministers, whose electorates are leery of debt relief, looks like delivering another fudge. There may be agreement to disburse more bailout loans but without easing repayment terms enough to satisfy the ECB and International Monetary Fund.

That would leave Tsipras high and dry. The debt has acted as a brake on growth at a time when Greeks should have the chance to rebuild their lives, he wrote in an article published in Le Monde and Die Welt on Wednesday.