What's going on?

Greece failed to reach a deal with EU finance ministers needed to unlock bailout funds for Athens. Two days of intense talks that took place at the EU summit in Brussels, similar to the ones that took place a month ago, resulted in both sides not being able to agree on what austerity measures and reforms Greece would undertake in order to get the bailout. Greece has a major credit crisis occurring and needs the bailout funds in order to pay wages and pensions by the end of this month, after falling 1 billion euros short in revenue during the first two months of the year.

What does this mean?

The deal was not reached because Greece and EU finance ministers disagree on what austerity and reform measures Greece should have to take in order to access the 7.2 billion euros in aid. Furthermore, Eurozone lending countries are not in agreement on how to verify that Greece�s anti-austerity government is actually going to implement any measures agreed to. After the summit ended, German chancellor Angela Merkel commented to the press that the new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should start with the reforms the previous Greek government promised but did not act upon. Tsipras rejects the promises of the former government, claiming that there will be no austerity measures and EU finance leaders should not expect him to follow through on any promises by the past Greek government. The meeting also focused on arrangements for international bailout monitors to access data in Greece to evaluate the countries reforms, which Greek officials have not made easy for them to access. ECB chief Marco Draghi went so far as to say he believed the inspectors have been treated badly by their Greek hosts, while Tsipras counters that access would be a violation of Greek sovereignty. By the end of the meeting, Tsipras and the Greek finance ministered agreed to work with the European Commission and IMF inspectors.

Why should I care?

If you live in Greece the news that another round of bailout talks failed is not a good sign since this is the second time in a month that an agreement has not been reached. Considering that the funds are needed by April 10^th to pay wages and pensions, this will potentially create protests and further unrest in Athens. Any investment in Greece would be very risky at this point. Although extremely risky, all Greek stocks and bonds are at incredibly low levels due to the economic distress of the nation, so may provide a buying opportunity for a risk-taking investor.