Greek PM Tsipras says expects 'positive news' on debt by year end

Greece's debt pile corresponds to 176 percent of its national output. Lenders have promised to look at how Greece's debt mountain can be made sustainable.

"By the end of the year we anticipate positive news on this front," Tsipras said during a parliamentary debate.

The country, which has lost about a quarter of its output in the past six years, was showing nascent signs of growth, Tsipras said. "All data points to not only revenue doing well ... but that we entered a positive growth cycle from the third quarter of 2016."

"For 2017 we expect growth will approach three percent."

(Reporting By Michele Kambas)