Greece to receive 23 bln in two tranches after Eurogroup, sources say
Greek Finance Ministry sources said on Friday that Athens expects to receive two tranches totalling 23 billion euros in the wake of the Eurogroup taking place in Brussels.
Athens said that the meeting of Euro Working Group experts ahead of the Eurogroup went well despite differences over the new 50-billion-euro fund the government has to create and the primary surplus targets agreed with lenders’ representatives in Athens, which some countries thing are too low.
Sources added that the EWG would recommend to eurozone finance ministers that they agree to a three-year loan deal with Greece via the European Stability Mechanism.
The Finance Ministry sources said that Greece would receive “immediately” a 13-billion-euro tranche, with 12.5 billion euros being destined to pay off existing debt (including a 3.2-billion-euro bond held by the European Central Bank that matures on August 20) and 500 million that would be used to reduce state arrears.
After that, Greece is in line to receive another tranche of 10 billion euros that will be destined for the recapitalization of the country’s beleaguered banks.
