Greece repays 2.3 bn euros to ECB
Greece repaid Wednesday 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) to the European Central Bank, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
The sum, representing one of Greece’s largest debt milestones this year, was repaid thanks to EU bailout cash.
Greece last month received 7.5 billion euros from its European creditors, part of a three-year, 86-billion-euro rescue accepted by the leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last year.
The 2015 agreement was the product of fraught negotiations that took months and nearly saw Greece kicked out of the euro.
The June bailout payment was clinched after the leftist government grudgingly adopted a number of fiscal measures demanded by its creditors, including tax hikes and a mechanism to slash spending in case of budget overruns.
The European Stability Mechanism – the body controlling Greeces bailout loans – has said that another 2.8 billion will be available once additional reforms are delivered.
An upcoming review of the Greek bailout in the autumn will include bad bank loans and a labour relations overhaul.
[AFP]
