World

Greek bailout talks given go-ahead

06:41 am on 18 July 2015

Greece and its creditors can formally start talks on the country's third bailout after the necessary eurozone parliaments gave their backing.

A young street musician. plays the piano accordion on a street in the Plaka district of Athens. Photo: AFP

The final approval came from the German parliament after an impassioned and at times ill-tempered debate.

A €7bn (£5bn) bridging loan has also been confirmed for Monday, when Greece has big debt repayments to make.

The head of the Eurogroup said there was now a chance to get the Greek economy back on track.

But Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned that the process would not be easy, saying he expected the negotiations to take four weeks.

The German parliament voted in favour of starting the talks on Greece's €86bn (£60bn) bailout deal, with 439 MPs in favour, 119 votes against and 40 abstentions.

Prior to the vote, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of "predictable chaos" if the Bundestag did not back the plan.

Approval

The Greek parliament has already voted in favour of accepting the hard-hitting austerity measures required by the eurozone for a third bailout deal.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised the level of emergency funding available. This has paved the way for Greek banks, which shut nearly three weeks ago, to reopen on Monday.

Chancellor Merkel told MPs that the deal was hard for all sides, but said it was the "last" attempt to resolve the crisis. Photo: AFP

But credit controls limiting cash withdrawals to €60 a day will only be eased gradually, officials say.

The eurozone's bailout fund, the ESM, announced it would formally open negotiations on a third bailout programme on Friday after both the Austrian and German parliaments voted in favour of negotiations.

They were the last of several eurozone states needing to give parliamentary approval for the bailout talks to get under way. France and Finland had already backed the negotiations.

Separately on Friday, the European Council approved the €7bn bridging loan for Greece from an EU-wide emergency fund. The loan was approved in principle by eurozone ministers on Thursday and now has the go-ahead from all non-euro states.

It means Greece will now be able to repay debts to two of its creditors, the ECB and International Monetary Fund (IMF), due on Monday.

Meanwhile, there have been fresh calls for Greek debt relief measures from IMF chief Christine Lagarde - echoing a call from Greek PM Alexis Tsipras.

Ms Lagarde told France's Europe 1 the IMF would participate in a "complete" Greek package that includes debt restructuring, as well as an "in-depth reform" of the Greek economy.

Withdrawal limit

Greece has debts of €320bn and last month became the first developed country to fail to make a repayment on a loan from the IMF.

The bank closures have been one of the most visible signs of the crisis. From Monday, a weekly limit on withdrawals may replace a daily cap, Greek Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas suggested.

Meanwhile a rise in value added tax (VAT) - one of the reforms required for the bailout talks - will kick in on Monday. Rates will go up from 13% to 23% on items such as food and drink in restaurants, taxi fares, selected supermarket goods, public transport and plane and ferry tickets.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is widely expected to announce a cabinet reshuffle after facing opposition from within his left-wing Syriza party over measures demanded for the bailout talks to start.

- BBC