Tsakalotos defends Eurogroup debt deal

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Thursday defended the Eurogroup package deal achieved on June 21, saying it delivered debt relief which complies with all the criteria the government had set for it.

The minister admitted the government did not get the “French mechanism,” as the French proposal linking medium-term debt relief to Greece’s growth rates was dubbed, but said it received a “promise, different from 2012” that the country's creditors would review its debt pile after 15 years.

“It is a specific proposal and commitment in order to be able to remain in the markets in the long-run,” he said during a speech in Parliament over the package deal and the economy.