Eurogroup says yes to sixth tranche
Greece will get the sixth tranche of its bailout loan in the first half of November, pending approval from the International Monetary Fund, as the finance ministers of the eurozone agreed on Friday evening in Brussels on the disbursement of the 8-billion-euro installment.
“We have agreed to endorse the disbursement of the next tranche of financial assistance to Greece in the context of the current economic adjustment program,» said the statement from the Eurogroup, which met in the presence of Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos.
“The disbursement is expected to take place in the first half of November, pending the approval by the Board of the IMF,» it said.
“The Eurogroup decision about the Greek program and the sixth installment constitutes a positive step, coming as a result of the voting by the Greek Parliament of the bill that secures the fiscal targets of 2012 and lays the groundwork for the necessary structural changes,» stated Venizelos from Brussels.
The Eurogroup statement confirmed the eurozone?s determination to agree to a second program for Greece, ?with an appropriate combination of additional new official financing and private sector involvement,? which is the very object of Saturday?s and probably Wednesday?s eurozone summits in Brussels.
Earlier on Friday Bloomberg had reported that the troika?s report on Greece had suggested that the financial situation in the country ?has taken a turn for the worse? since the last review in June, and would need more investor losses for the Greek debt to be sustainable.
?Large, long-term and sufficiently generous official support will be necessary for Greece to remain current on its debt service payments and to facilitate a declining debt trajectory,? said the report. It recommended a larger contribution by the private sector, through a haircut amounting to at least 60 percent in order to bring the debt down to 110 percent of the country?s gross domestic product.
Kathimerini also understands that the troika is likely to set up a permanent basis in Athens. The eurozone summit will probably decide in the coming days to ask Athens for a formal request to the bloc for its representatives to be based in this country for good, given that the government has shown it cannot enforce the reforms agreed or sustain the fiscal adjustment required.
The plan provides for officials who will have the role of consultants to the finance minister and refer to both the prime minister and the troika.
