Thursday, July 16, 2015

Eurozone backs Greek bridging loan

Eurozone backs Greek bridging loan
Eurozone ministers have agreed to give Greece a €7bn (£5bn) bridging loan from an EU-wide fund to keep its finances afloat until a bailout is approved.
The loan is expected to be confirmed on Friday by all EU member states.
In another development, the European Central Bank (ECB) agreed to increase emergency funding to Greece for the first time since it was frozen in June.
The decisions were made after Greek MPs passed tough reforms as part of a eurozone bailout deal.
The bridging loan means Greece will be able to repay debts to the ECB and IMF on Monday.
Greek banks, which have been closed for nearly three weeks, could also reopen on Monday, Greek media reported, although credit controls will remain in place.
Eurozone leaders agreed on the bailout in principle in Brussels on Monday, on the condition that the Greek parliament passed reforms on taxation increases and pension curbs by Wednesday.
The €7bn bridge loan was agreed in a conference call on Thursday to tap the EU’s EFSM emergency fund.
Britain, which is in the EU but not the eurozone, later said it had won an agreement to protect UK money in the EFSM.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the concession would also apply to other non-eurozone states.
At a news conference on Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi said emergency funding – ELA – to Greek banks was being raised by €900m over one week.
“Things have changed now,” he said. “We had a series of news with the approval of the bridge financing package, with the votes, various votes in various parliaments, which have now restored the conditions for a raise in ELA.”
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won the parliamentary vote in the early hours of Thursday by 229 votes to 64, but needed the support of opposition MPs to do so.
His left-wing Syriza-led government is expected to survive, despite losing its majority after 38 Syriza MPs rejected the reforms.
It paves the way for eurozone finance ministers to open detailed talks on the bailout, worth up to €86bn, and on Thursday they said they agreed “in principle” to start negotiations.
Finland’s parliament on Thursday approved the bailout talks – one of a number of eurozone states which require a mandate from their own parliament for Greece to secure new funds.
Germany’s parliament is due to vote on the deal on Friday, reports the BBC.
Passionate opposition came from within Tsipras’s own Syriza party, with parliamentary speaker Zoe Constantopoulou calling the measures “social genocide”.

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