Greek Austerity bill goes through without problems
Thursday, February 9th, 2012 11:27:37 by Hamza Jahangir
Greece has reached a tentative agreement on new austerity cuts demanded by creditors to release a 130-billion-euro ($173 billion) bailout, hours before a crucial meeting of finance ministers in Brussels, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos‘
office said Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the prime minister said the agreement with the majority Socialists and the conservatives will allow alternative cuts to those rejected early Thursday during a marathon meeting of the three coalition party leaders.
No details were available on what alternative measures would be chosen.
Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, confirmed the latest stage in the austerity talks, telling reporters at a press conference in Frankfurt, Germany, that the Greek party leaders had accepted the terms of
the deal. The ECB is involved in the debt talks along with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund — known as the “troika.”
Although all the other cuts demanded by the troika were approved, party leaders had balked at new pension cuts, leaving the bailout in limbo and the threat of bankruptcy high.
The deal came just ahead of talks in Brussels between finance ministers from the 17 euro countries.
“It is up to the euro group to decide at the highest level if the conditions are in place to proceed with the second (bailout) program,” said Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, a spokesman for the European Commission, one of the three institutions
charged with negotiating the rescue conditions.
Also attending the meeting in Brussels will be Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, as well as Mr. Draghi.
Greece needs the bailout by March 20 so it will have enough money to redeem 14.5 billion euros’ ($19.29 billion) worth of bonds coming due. If it doesn’t make that payment, it will be in default. Financial analysts fear a default
could set off a chain reaction similar to the financial meltdown triggered by the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2008.
Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=12277
Posted by Hamza Jahangir
on Feb 9 2012. Filed under Latest News, World.
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