Australian dollar steady ahead of Greek deadline

The Australian dollar was trading higher today but then gave back most of the gains as caution spread that the agreement reached between the Eurozone ministers and Greece on Friday about an extension of the bailout deal was far from certain.

AT 11.37am (GMT) the Australian dollar was trading at US77.96c after reaching a high of US78.43c earlier in the day.

The Greek government now have until the end of Monday to draw up a list of reforms which they say will include a crackdown on tax evasion and more transparency from the country’s oligarchs.

"We are compiling a list of measures to make the Greek civil service more effective and to combat tax evasion," minister of state Nikos Pappas told Greek television network, Mega channel.

Even if all goes well some say the deal is a sinking ship and in the end Greece will never have the ability to fully repay their debts which will only cause further turmoil in the financial and currency markets.

Greek debt is not repayable in this life, Kingsley Jones, founder and CIO of Jevons Global, told CNBC on Monday: "We have to be realistic here. Greek debt is now 175 percent of gross domestic product (GDP); it's higher than it was when this whole business first started."

"Just look at Japan. It has government debt rapidly approaching 300 percent of GDP. One day, that debt pile simply implodes. It is not ever going to be repaid, nor will the Greek debt. There is no use standing on the high moral ground," Jones said.

The Aussie dollar may sit tight as the market awaits key data later in the week from the US such as the latest speech from Fed president Janet Yellen for a direction on US interest rates and the wage price index from Australia which may provide some clues on Australia’s deteriorating unemployment rate.