Eurozone ministers push for Greece debt deal

AFP, BRUSSELS:  Eurozone finance ministers said they hoped to unlock vital bailout cash for Greece yesterday, but warned of tough talks on debt relief that the IMF has demanded as the price for staying with the programme.
The 19 ministers from the countries that use the euro met two days after Greek lawmakers passed yet another round of spending cuts and tax hikes demanded in return for rescue loans.
Greece is looking to unlock as much as 11 billion euros ($12 billion) at the Eurogroup talks by completing the first formal review its 86 billion euro bailout programme agreed last July. Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem hailed Greece’s “important work since the summer and in the past weeks” to deliver on the reforms.
“I hope there is full agreement ... and that we can move on in the programme,” added Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, saying disbursement could be “in weeks”.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble agreed that he was “confident” for a deal in principle at Tuesday’s talks on the payout.
Greece urgently needs the next tranche of bailout money to repay big loans to the European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF in July, and has already fallen behind in paying for everyday government duties and wages.
But the hardest part of the talks will be the effort to diffuse the row between Greece’s creditors, the eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund, over the state of the Greek economy and debt relief.

Eurozone ministers push for Greece debt deal

AFP, BRUSSELS: Eurozone finance ministers said they hoped to unlock vital bailout cash for Greece yesterday, but warned of tough talks on debt relief that the IMF has demanded as the price for staying with the programme. The 19 ministers from the countries that use the euro met two days after Greek lawmakers passed yet another round of spending cuts and tax hikes demanded in return for rescue loans. Greece is looking to unlock as much as 11 billion euros ($12 billion) at the Eurogroup talks by completing the first formal review its 86 billion euro bailout programme agreed last July. Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem hailed Greeces important work since the summer and in the past weeks to deliver on the reforms. I hope there is full agreement ... and that we can move on in the programme, added Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, saying disbursement could be in weeks. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble agreed that he was confident for a deal in principle at Tuesdays talks on the payout. Greece urgently needs the next tranche of bailout money to repay big loans to the European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF in July, and has already fallen behind in paying for everyday government duties and wages. But the hardest part of the talks will be the effort to diffuse the row between Greeces creditors, the eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund, over the state of the Greek economy and debt relief.