Greece may not get money set side for it
Greece is at risk of not getting some 750 million euros next month that it won under a debt relief deal with the eurozone last year because it has not completed agreed reforms, eurozone officials said on Monday.
The money is part of about 4.8 billion euros of profits from Greek bonds held by eurozone central banks, to be handed back to Athens by mid-2022 in semi-annual tranches and a waiver of the step-up interest rate margin on part of the eurozone loans.
Together, the two measures add up to 750 million every six months.
The money was designed as an incentive for Athens to continue with hard-won reforms adopted under its three bailouts since 2010, worth more than 280 billion euros in total.
The European Commission will issue a report on February 27 spelling out Greek progress in implementation of the agreed reforms.
The conclusion of this report will be key for eurozone finance ministers to decide whether to allow the disbursement.
“The report is likely to say that Greece has not completed the agreed reforms,” one eurozone official said.
“Eurozone finance ministers will not allow the disbursement unless Athens completes the actions between February 27 and March 11,” the official said.
There are 16 various reforms at different stages of completion, but the key ones, officials said, were linked to the clearance of government arrears, the rollout of the primary healthcare system and centralized healthcare procurement and the legal framework for nonperforming loan resolution, in particular the household insolvency law.
[Reuters]
