VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Greece said it will present a package of reforms to its euro zone partners by next Monday in hope of unlocking aid to help it deal with a cash crunch and avoid default.

Germany's Angela Merkel does not expect talks on Monday with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to resolve his differences with the euro zone over Greece's bailout but she does want to hear from him in person about his reform plans, an aide said.

The dollar resumed its fall on Monday after its steepest weekly drop in 3-1/2 years, as comments by a top Federal Reserve official added to last week's dovish policy message.

Markets still digesting an unexpectedly cautious message from the Federal Reserve will get more food for thought this week with U.S. inflation data and potentially rising risks of a Greek exit from the euro zone.

Greece must cooperate with international creditors and boost confidence among its euro zone partners about economic reforms, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said in a radio interview, adding a lack of trust was a major problem.

Greece will receive much needed funding once it has submitted a detailed list of proposed reforms to the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, its government spokesman said on Friday, as the country strives to avoid a cash crunch within weeks.

U.S. stock index futures climbed on Friday after a one-day pullback as investors were reassured by a reform pledge by Greece to its EU creditors that could help avert a cash crunch.

With incendiary interviews, an undiplomatic demeanor, a celebrity photo shoot and an obscene finger gesture, Yanis Varoufakis is becoming part of Greece's debt problem rather than the solution, or so his euro zone partners believe.

Greece frustrated its main creditors on Tuesday by refusing to update euro zone peers on its reform progress at a scheduled teleconference, insisting instead that the discussions should be escalated to Thursday's European Union summit.

Warning Greece it had "no time to lose", euro zone ministers agreed technical talks between finance experts from Athens and its international creditors would start on Wednesday with the aim of unlocking further funding.

The head of the euro zone finance ministers responded positively to Greece's request for an immediate start to technical talks with international creditors to conclude the country's current bailout program, a Greek government official said on Saturday.

Greece sent its euro zone partners an augmented list of proposed reforms on Friday but EU officials said several more steps were required before any release of aid funds to a country that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says has a noose around its neck.

Greece must realize there is no other way than to reform, European Central Bank governing council member Luc Coene said in an interview published on Saturday, telling Greeks they had been sold "false promises" by radical leftists now in power.

Greece's leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Spain and Portugal on Saturday of leading a conservative conspiracy to topple his anti-austerity government, saying they feared their own radical forces before elections this year.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras denied on Friday that Greece would need yet another international bailout, and a poll showed surging support for his government even though it had to back down to win a temporary lifeline from the euro zone.