NEWS

Over next few weeks, 16 bln in loans to reach Greece

Brussels – Greece is to receive 16 billion euros of loans from the troika during the next month, officials in Brussels told Kathimerini Friday.

Having reached an agreement on imminent structural reforms with the troika last week, the money that Greece is due to receive will come from a number of sources and for several purposes.

Before the end of April, the executive board of the European Stability Mechanism is due to meet to approve the release of 2.8 billion euros, which is the delayed March sub-tranche. The approval will be given if Greece has legislated the “prior actions” agreed with the troika, which include civil service dismissals.

If Greek banks have completed their attempts to increase share capital by the end of the month, another 7.2 billion euros in bonds will be disbursed by the country’s lenders to conclude the recapitalization process.

Then, a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on May 13 is expected to give the green light for another 4.2 billion euros to be transferred to Greece. This will happen without another review from troika inspectors.

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board is due to meet before May 20, which is when Greece has to pay out 5.6 billion euros to cover a maturing bond, to give the go-ahead for Athens to receive another 1.8 billion euros in loans from the Washington-based organization.

Greece has received about 200 billion euros in rescue loans since its first bailout in May in 2010. Beyond the disbursements this month and next, Athens is due to receive another 14.6 billion euros from its eurozone partners as part of its second bailout.

Officials in Brussels said there is no precise timeline for how this funding will be disbursed and that it will depend on Greece’s fiscal requirements. Any further disbursements, though, will be after the next troika review at the end of June. There is a possibility that this inspection will be delayed.

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