Eurogroup pores over Greek bailout deal
Greece’s bid for a new bailout got close inspection on Tuesday from eurozone officials poring over the details of Athens’s budget to decide whether it has met conditions to get the money.
Even it passes muster, the second round of funds may only be paid out once Greece proves it has taken action.
Senior eurozone finance ministry and treasury officials — collectively known as the Eurogroup Working Group — have to decide if eurozone finance ministers can sign off on financing program when they meet in Brussels on Wednesday.
If they do, and ministers give their approval, it will effectively mean that Greece will have received a total of 240 billion euros in emergency loans and other support from the European Union and International Monetary Fund over the past two years — equivalent to 110 percent of annual output.
The first package, worth 110 billion euros, was agreed in May 2010. A spokesman for the head of the Eurogroup said eurozone finance ministers would meet from 1700 GMT on Wednesday.
“I am confident that — as far as I know the details — Greece will get more help,» Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter told reporters on Tuesday. [Reuters]
