Germany and IMF on Different Sides of Greek Debt Talks

European officials have voiced optimism that Greece could unlock the next tranche of bailout money even as an ongoing row between the country’s creditors threatens to plunge the eurozone back into crisis.

Greece’s international creditors remain deadlocked over how to reduce the recession-hit country’s €321bn (£245bn) debt mountain, worth 180% of annual economic output.

The International Monetary Fund has threatened to walk away from the Greek bailout unless substantial debt relief is agreed, but Germany maintains there can be no changes before 2018.

Going into the talks between 19 eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, Valdis Dombrovskis, the European commissioner in charge of the euro, said he hoped to see “an agreement in principle”, including on disbursement of bailout funds.

Greece is in line for an €11bn (£8.4bn) tranche of bailout funds, the long-delayed second instalment of its third bailout agreed last August, worth €86bn.

Athens cleared the way for the latest instalment earlier this month when it agreed on contingency measures – spending cuts and tax increases worth €3.6bn that will come into force if it fails to meet its fiscal targets.

via The Guardian

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.