Greek debt crisis: When exactly is the deadline?

While the deadline is being reported as 30 June not everybody is sure when it is

Greek Finance Minister Yianis Varoufakis (L) listens to the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressing his MP's and ministers at the Greek Parliament (AFP/GEtty Images)

Greece could be forgiven for making things difficult for itself with the deadline for default looming.

Most are aware that the deadline for Greece’s extended bailout is on 30 June, but exactly when is the country too have made the payment – is it midnight? If so, is that midnight at the beginning of Tuesday, or the end? Or is it the close of business? Which time zone?

Well, The Independent contacted the Greek embassy in London and they were a bit confused as well.

When asked when exactly the deadline passed, officials weren't entirely sure.

“It is the end of the day, maybe midnight,” one official said. “I’m not sure which time zone, maybe New York.”

For the purposes of clarity, the deadline is in fact 11pm BST – or 6pm in Washington, where the International Monetary Fund is based.

Greece has until 30 June to have agreed to proposals from its creditors the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission, if it wants to secure an extra €7.2bn in bailout funds.

The deadline follows a week of frantic summit talks in Brussels, that saw marathon negotiations last until 3am and resulted in a deadlock where the European Central Bank refused to increase the emergency funds it had given to Greece.