OREANDA-NEWS. February 02, 2015. The euro retreated against other major currencies Friday as struggling Greece refused to meet with its international creditors and rejected fresh loans, and the eurozone showed weaker inflation.

The finance minister of Greece's new anti-austerity government, Yanis Varoufakis, said that despite warnings Greece would shortly run out of money, his government preferred to do without the instant fresh cash, and instead renegotiate the entire bailout package.

"This government was elected on the basis of analytically questioning the very logic of the program now being applied," he said, referring to the reforms and budget cuts demanded by Athens's international troika of creditors -- the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.