Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said yesterday his leftist-led government was on the final stretch of negotiations with its international lenders on a cash-for-reforms deal that would not involve further pension cuts and harsh austerity.

"We are on the final stretch of a painful period shaped by the government's negotiations with the institutions," Tsipras, back from an EU leaders summit in Riga, told his party's central committee. He said the majority of Greeks supported the government in its talks with the International Monetary Fund and its euro zone partners, asking for a solution and not just an agreement.