VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Euro zone leaders will attend an emergency summit on Monday, hoping to thrash out a plan with Athens to provide Greece with additional funds to prevent it defaulting on its debt -- but only if both sides play ball.

Euro zone leaders will hold an emergency summit on Monday to try to avert a Greek default after bank withdrawals accelerated and government revenue slumped as Athens and its international creditors remain deadlocked over a debt deal.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he was willing to accept unpalatable compromises to secure a deal with international creditors provided he gets debt relief in return, something that Germany refuses to countenance.

Germans need to overcome their traditional fear of the large-scale collection of personal data by companies and instead embrace its opportunities or risk being marginalized in the global economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

Germany's EU Commissioner Guenter Oettinger said on Monday it might still be possible for Greece and its creditors to reach a deal this week.

Greece expects to reach a cash-for-reforms deal with its creditors in the next 10 days and aims to meet all its payments in June, the government's spokesman said on Friday, after the prime minister met with EU leaders.

German politicians kept up the pressure on Greece over the weekend to implement reforms, with Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel warning Athens in an interview that a third aid package would not be on the cards unless the Greeks made some changes.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed in a phone conversation on Sunday to maintain contact during talks between Athens and its lenders to reach a debt deal, a Greek government official said.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said on Friday he respects Germany just not German politics, nor the way Berlin views Greece's economy, which faces the prospect of running out of money if it cannot agree to new bailout terms with creditors.

Greece offered some concessions on Friday on reforms demanded by international lenders in return for new funding before Athens runs out of money, but euro zone creditors said negotiations needed to speed up to get a deal by June.

The euro hit a two-week high against a soft dollar on Friday, supported by a rise in a key German business sentiment survey and hopes that cash-strapped Greece was making tentative progress toward securing fresh funding.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for a speeding up of the process to conclude a reform-for-cash deal with euro zone creditors after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, a Greek official said.

Greece is in talks with its international creditors -- euro zone governments and the International Monetary Fund -- on a package of reforms that would help unlock more funding to prevent the cash-strapped country defaulting.

Greece can scrape together enough cash to meet its payment obligations until June, euro zone and Greek officials said on Wednesday, playing down fears of an imminent default as hopes receded of a deal with its creditors to release fresh aid.

Euro zone finance ministers will not set any deadline for Greece to come up with reforms to get more funding because such time limits lead to brinkmanship in negotiations, a senior euro zone official said on Tuesday.