Brussels - The European Central Bank (ECB) late on Wednesday said it would no longer accept Greek government bonds as security for loans, increasing the pressure on Greece over its vow to renegotiate the terms of its bailout.
The ECB had previously given the Greek government a waiver on the use of its bonds as security, but said in a statement that it would lift that exemption as of February 11.
"The waiver allowed these instruments [Greek bonds] to be used in Eurosystem monetary policy operations despite the fact that they did not fulfil minimum credit rating requirements," the ECB said.
The move means Greek banks seeking new funding would need to obtain what is termed Emergency Liquidity Assistance from their own central bank rather than rely on loans from the ECB.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed optimism earlier on Wednesday about finding a "mutually acceptable solution" with the European Union to his country's bailout woes, after talks with the bloc's top officials in Brussels.
Time is running out for Greece as the European portion of its rescue package is due to expire at the end of the month.
Failure to negotiate an extension could lead to a messy bailout exit and even bankruptcy, analysts fear.