French PM: Progress Made on Greece

(AP) -- 12:35 p.m. (1035 GMT, 6:35 a.m. EDT)

French President Francois Hollande says "progress has been made in the negotiations" between Greece and its creditors, which include eurozone states like France.

Hollande is urging Greece to find an agreement at a Monday summit in Brussels between Greece and its creditors.

"We must do everything so that an agreement is found tonight," Hollande said at an event in Paris before heading to Brussels.

If Monday's talks are inconclusive, Hollande insists an agreement would need to be found "within the next days."

"France and Germany are aware that Greece must remain in the eurozone," he said.

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11:25 a.m. (0925 GMT, 5:25 a.m. EDT)

The European Central Bank has increased the amount of emergency credit it allows Greek banks to draw on to remain afloat, and remains on call in coming days to revise the amount should that be necessary, a banking official says.

The official, who spoke Monday only on condition of anonymity as the ECB had not made the decision public, declined to provide the amount.

The credit helps support Greek banks, from which worried savers have been pulling money out ahead of a critical European summit on Monday on how to keep the country solvent.

Figures have not been officially released, but reports suggest Greeks withdrew about 4 billion euros last week.

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11:20 a.m. (0920 GMT, 5:20 a.m. EDT)

A top European Union official says that debt talks between Greece and its international creditors have made some progress but that a deal to avoid potential bankruptcy remains elusive.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday that the sides have made "progress over the last few days but we are not yet there."

His comments came as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrived for talks ahead of an important summit of leaders from the 19-nation eurozone.

The meeting is aimed at staving off bankruptcy in Greece and avoiding a potentially disastrous exit for the country from the euro single currency.

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11:05 a.m. (0905 GMT, 5:05 a.m. EDT)

Amid the high-stakes negotiations in Brussels over Greek debt, many Greeks have been taking their cash out of banks in large amounts.

Some two billion euros (nearly $2.3 billion) was withdrawn over just three days last week.

Yannis Nikolopoulos said in Athens says Monday "everyone's going (to the banks) to take money."

He said people are taking "some money to have at home for 10, 15 days — say 1,000, 500 euros, because if the banks shut it'll be a problem to go shopping."

He said a deal between Greece and its creditors "is mandatory at all costs, otherwise we're doomed."

Vassiliki Papanagiotou, a lawyer in Athens, is urging "prudence on both sides," warning that "otherwise Greece will collapse."

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10:05 a.m. (0805 GMT, 4:05 a.m. EDT)

European stock markets are surging on hopes that Greece and its creditors will reach a deal to get the country more loans before it goes bankrupt at the end of the month.

The Athens stock exchange led the charge, jumping 7.1 percent. The Stoxx 50 of top European shares was up 2.7 percent, with Germany's DAX gaining 2.8 percent.

Leaders of the 19-nation eurozone are gathering in Brussels for a last-ditch summit aimed at clinching a deal between Greece and international lenders as a major debt payment deadline looms.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras presented the leaders of Germany, France and the European Union over the weekend with a new proposal for a deal. No details of it were made public.

(KA)