Europe signs off on €7.5bn finance package for Greece
European leaders have signed on the dotted line to unlock the latest tranche of Greece's bailout funds this morning.
The beleaguered nation will get its hands on €7.5bn (£5.9bn) next week after technocrats from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) – the body in charge of administering the Greek bailout, based in Luxembourg – approved the deal today.
Finance ministers, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – the so-called "troika" – agreed to unlock the funds last month after Greece's parliament passed a series of tax and pensions reforms to bring their public finances in order.
The managing director of the ESM said: "Today's decision to disburse €7.5bn to Greece is a recognition of the Greek government's commitment to carry out essential reforms… Thanks to these measures and other reforms implemented in recent months, Greece is on track to return to economic growth."
The Athens stock market jumped 2.7 per cent at the open on the news.
The troika also carried out their first "debt sustainability analysis" last month, an appraisal of how likely Greece is to be able to function and meet repayments on its massive debt burden.
The deal, which was worth €10.3bn in total, was criticised by many however, for kicking the can further down the road, as there were no concrete measures announced over exactly what form debt relief for Greece would take, or when it would be granted.
The ESM said today, it was "in principle willing to support Greece's efforts with further debt relief measures, including short-term measures that can be applied during the course of the current programme. This depends on Greece's continued fulfilment of the pre-defined conditionality".