Tuesday, August 11, 2015

[Swissquote] Greece Secures Third Bailout Deal

Greece Secures Third Bailout Deal

August 11, 2015 at 12:38

BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Greece reached an agreement with its creditors over the terms of the third bailout which would help nation stay afloat.

After intensive talks, external creditors namely the European Central Bank, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Stability Mechanism finally wrapped up talks early Tuesday sealing a deal.

This would likely unlock around EUR 86 billion loans for Greece. The agreement has to be passed by the Greek parliament ahead of the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers on Friday.

It would help Athens to repay EUR 3.2 billion debt to the ECB, due on August 20.

There are minor details yet to be resolved, Finance Ministry spokesman Theodoros Mihopoulos said.

The key points of the deal were primary surplus targets and how to operate a new independent privatization fund. The agreement would also outline how to deal with its non-performing loans.

The primary deficit is expected to be 0.25 percent of GDP this year, but would turn to a surplus of 0.5 percent the next year.

Newspaper Kathimerini reported the draft deal includes 35 prior actions to be taken by Greece before the release of funds. It includes phasing out early retirement, a review of the social welfare system, changes in taxation of shipping firms and reform of the favorable tax treatments for the islands.

The Greek economic situation has strongly deteriorated over the last 8 months, making fiscal consolidation still quite a challenge in a country that is tired of austerity, Peter Vanden Houte, an ING Bank NV economist, said.

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX



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