German party open to more time for Greece

BERLIN -- A senior figure in Germany's governing coalition whose party has talked particularly tough on Greece, is signaling that he's open to giving Athens more time to get its finances in order.

Over the summer, prominent officials in the Christian Social Union, the Bavaria-only sister to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, called for Greece to leave the euro.

But party leader Horst Seehofer said in an interview with Bayern 2 radio Friday that he sees "no reason for that at the moment."

European leaders are awaiting a report from Greece's debt inspectors before authorizing the release of the country's next batch of bailout cash.

Seehofer says the option remains to give Athens more time to fix its public finances provided it's making progress in its reform efforts.