Eurozone finance ministers agreed Monday to meet again November 20 to clear the way for a long-delayed Greek aid payment, but a proposal to change its debt reduction deadline sparked the ire of the International Monetary Fund.
Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece has made progress on its commitments to reduce debt and the public deficit but ministers still had work to do before finalising the details and so approving some 31 billion euros ($39 billion) in funding.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had said his country would go broke by Friday if Monday’s meeting failed to produce the aid payment, but Juncker said there would be no problem with Athens rolling over debt due on that day.
“I will do all I can to make sure that a decision is taken on November 20,” Juncker told a press briefing. “I won’t tell you how but there won’t be a problem on November 16.”
European Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said “there is a solution,” explaining that Greek banks will be able to take part in a government sale of treasury bills that day, providing the money Athens needs to cover the debt.
With that hurdle apparently cleared, the finance ministers recognised that Greece had made “significant progress,” a statement said.
The ministers’ meeting acknowledged “the considerable efforts already made by Greek citizens and is convinced that continued fiscal and structural reforms will … allow the economy to return to a sustainable growth path.”
(source: AFP)
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