Treasury chief: Keep Greece in eurozone

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday urged European leaders to find a solution to Greece’s debt crisis so that the country can remain within the eurozone, according to a Treasury official.

Lew spoke separately by phone with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who’s also the finance minister of the Netherlands, Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan and French Finance Minister Michel Sapin.

{mosads}The phone calls came as Greece requested a third bailout, reports said, before a deadline that could force the government to default on a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

At a press conference earlier in the day, President Obama told reporters that the White House believes Greece’s debt crisis won’t cause a “major shock to the system” but could have ripple effects across the global economy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, rejected the idea of new negotiations with Greece until after it votes on a proposal from creditors. Germany’s decision, Reuters reported, could almost certainly result in Greece defaulting at midnight.