Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem announced on Friday night the achievement of a final deal on the new, three-year aid program for Greece, saying it will achieve sound public finances and safeguard the banking sector.
“It is a comprehensive and ambitious reform package, it addresses the main challenges both on reaching sound public finances to return to growth, but also structural policy frameworks to enhance competitiveness. And finally, it safeguards financial stability; it deals with the banks’ issues,” Dijsselbloem said at the press conference following the end of the Eurogroup in Brussels.
Based on the new ESM program, Greece will receive up to 86 billion euros that includes a 25-billion bank buffer, which can be available if needed to address potential bank recapitalization, he said. The country will receive 23 billion euros almost immediately, 10 billion of which will be used to enhance the Greek banks’ capital base. Another 13 billion euros will be disbursed in the next week and will be used to repay Greece ’s debt to creditors, while another 3 billion will be given in the next two months under conditions.
The Dutch official also commended the Greek authorities on the “strong commitment shown in the last weeks in the normalization of working methods with the institutions,” while he also welcomed the result of the vote in the Greek Parliament on the prior actions. He explained these are all steps that have helped rebuild trust between Greece and the other Eurozone countries.
Concerning Greek banks, Dijsselbloem said their evaluation (stress tests) will take place in autumn.
(source: ana-mpa)
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