Eurogroup to discuss size of new Greece loan, debt relief details – Dijsselbloem

Euro zone lenders will discuss the size of new loans to Greece on Thursday and provide some details on what debt relief they may offer Athens in 2018, as requested by the International Monetary Fund, the chairman of euro zone ministers said.

Greece needs more than 7 billion euros  in new loans from the euro zone bailout fund to repay debt maturing in July, but can only get the money once lenders agree Athens has pushed through agreed reforms.

Another condition is the participation of the IMF in the latest bailout. To join, the Fund wants more details from the euro zone on what debt relief it could offer Greece at the end of the bailout in 2018.

Asked how much money Greece would get in new loans, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers — the Eurogroup — Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the size of the tranche would be part of the talks on Thursday and would be communicated after the Eurogroup meeting.

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 program," he said.

[Reuters]