Greece agree to financial reforms
(18 November 2015 – Greece) This morning, Greece reached an agreement with its lenders on financial reforms.
Athens agreed to a new aid programme worth up to €86 billion (A$129 billion) earlier this year, however payment of part of an initial portion had been in limbo due to disagreements on regulations around home foreclosures and the processing of tax arrears owed to the government.
Following prolonged discussions with representatives from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), a deal was reached on Wednesday morning over a first set of demanded reforms, the country’s Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said.
"It was a difficult negotiation," Tsakalotos said. "Over the summer the pressure to reach a deal came from the spectre of Grexit, this time it was the need to recapitalise banks," he said.
"The agreement covers all 48 demanded reforms and some extra milestones on financial issues."
Tsakalotos added that the agreement meant Greece's parliament could ratify the reforms into law on Thursday, and that deputy euro zone finance ministers, known as the Euro Working Group, could endorse the deal by the end of the week.
That would allow the disbursement of €2 billion euros in cash for the state to pay its own arrears and another €10 billion to close part of a €14.4 billion capital shortfall with Greece’s four biggest banks.
The head of the euro zone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said Greece's European creditors stood ready "to support the disbursement" once parliament approves the reforms.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, the EU’s Economics Commissioner, Pierre Moscovici said: "This is a good day."
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