Tsakalotos ‘optimistic’ about Eurogroup deal

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said he was optimistic euro zone lenders would reach an agreement on Thursday on the disbursement of new loans to Athens that the country needs to pay back maturing debt in July.

Asked if he expected a deal at the meeting of euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund in Luxembourg, Tsakalotos said he was “optimistic.”.

The chairman of euro zone finance ministers — the Eurogroup — Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the size of the tranche Greece will receive would be part of the talks on Thursday and would be communicated after the Eurogroup.

Asked about the details of possible debt relief for Greece, Dijsselbloem said:

“Today we will give more clarity to Greece and to the IMF, that has been asking for that clarity, how we will move forward, how we will calibrate debt relief needed next year.”

“We need to agree on the process how we will calibrate, who will calibrate it and how we then decide the whole package, that's the kind of discussions we will have today. There won't be a figure that rolls out of that. The figure will only come at the end of the programme,” he said.

[Reuters]