News / EU

Creditors agree to unblock first tranche of aid to Greece: Greek official

Tuesday, 17 November 2015 10:37 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 17 November 2015 10:38 AM ]

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos (Photo by AFP)

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos says Athens has reached an agreement with its international creditors to unblock some 12 billion euros (12.8 billion dollars) in bailout loans.

Tsakalotos made the announcement on Tuesday, adding that Greece is expecting to receive the fund by Friday.

The new agreement would free up a 2-billion-euro (2.15-billion-dollar) tranche of aid and another 10 billion (USD 10.7 billion) to help recapitalize four main Greek banks.

The planned payment will be the initial tranche of the 86-billion-euro (93-billion-dollar) financial aid that Athens is set to receive from its creditors – the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – under a bailout deal they reached earlier this year.

The Tuesday agreement reportedly includes provisions on home foreclosures, which Athens had been unwilling to accept. Greece’s creditors had held up the first installment of the bailout amid disagreements over regulations on home foreclosures and handling tax arrears to the state.

Athens must submit the measures to parliament later in the day for a vote on Thursday. Eurozone officials must also approve the measures later Tuesday in order for the funds to be released.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) speaks with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-president for the euro, during their meeting in Athens, October 26, 2015. (Photo by AP)

On November 6, the Greek parliament approved a bill that modified earlier legislation requiring Athens to overhaul the country’s struggling pensions system and scrap tax breaks for farmers, among other economic reforms required by the creditors.

In July, the government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to the demands for austerity cuts by creditors in exchange for the multi-billion bailout deal, a move described by the premier as a “painful compromise” and “tactical retreat.”

The decision triggered outrage from Greeks, who argue Tsipras came to power in January on an anti-austerity platform.

Greece has already received two bailouts in 2010 and 2012, worth a total of 240 billion euros (272 billion dollars) from its creditors following the economic crisis in 2009.

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