Greece won’t be getting its long overdue next installment from international lenders all at once but in three parts, Eurozone finance ministers meeting in Athens have decided.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister heads the group of 18 countries that use the euro as a currency, said the 8.3 billion euro ($11.4 billion) installment will be broken up, the Associated Press reported.
Greece was hoping to get the money all at once after it completed a seven-month long review with envoys from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) and rammed through Parliament a reform bill that bitterly divided the lawmakers.
Dijsselbloem said the first part of the current installment of rescue loans would be disbursed at the end of April, in time for Greece to meet a bond redemption in May, although Greece must pay 10 billion euros ($13.7 billion) for that obligation.
The rest of the rescue loans will be paid in June and July. The amount does not include the IMF portion of the installment, which is paid separately.
With protests banned by the government to prevent embarrassing incidents, Eurozone finance ministers began a two-day meeting in Athens on April 1 to talk about paying delayed bailout installments for Greece and Portugal.
The Eurogroup meeting is to be followed by a broader gathering of all EU Union finance ministers later in the day and on April 2 to center on the impact austerity has had, the EU’s growth and financial stability, and banking union among other topics.
Meanwhile, Austria’s finance minister said Greece won’t need a third bailout. Michael Spindelegger made his remarks as Eurozone finance ministers met in Athens.
“Currently, we do not expect Greece will need a third package,” Spindelegger told journalists. “I hope it will stay like this.”
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said last August Greece might need another bailout.
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