EU working on second bailout
The European Union is working on a second bailout package for Greece in a race to release vital loans next month and avert the risk of the euro zone country defaulting, EU officials said on Monday.
Senior EU officials held unannounced emergency talks with the Greek government over the weekend, an EU source said, Reuters reported.
EU officials said a new 65 billion euro package could involve a mixture of collateralised loans from the EU and IMF, and additional revenue measures, with unprecedented intrusive external supervision of Greece’s privatisation programme.
“It would require collateral for new loans and EU technical assistance — EU involvement in the privatisation process,» one senior EU official told the news agency.
Extra funding for Greece faces fierce political resistance from fiscal conservatives and nationalists in key north European creditor countries — Germany, the Netherlands and Finland — complicating EU governments’ task.
