ATHENS: Greece and international creditors sought to put final touches on a multi-billion euro bailout accord on Monday to keep the country financially afloat and meet an important debt repayment to the European Central Bank within days.
Greek ministers and representatives of European institutions and the International Monetary Fund resumed talks on Monday morning after a marathon session that ended in the pre-dawn hours. An accord for up to 86 billion euros ($94.22 billion) in fresh loans to the debt-stricken nation must be in place by Aug. 20, when the repayment to the European Central Bank is due. “From 12 midnight the two sides started the final stretch, discussing the final stretch – combing through the final text, sentence by sentence, word by word,” a Greek finance ministry official said.
Greek officials earlier said they hoped to conclude negotiations with creditors by early Tuesday at the latest. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday a swift conclusion to the negotiations would be desirable although a thorough agreement was more important than a quick deal. Greek officials have previously said they expect the bailout accord to be vetted by the eurogroup — finance ministers of the euro zone — on Aug. 14, and be approved by the Greek parliament by Aug. 18.
“When the new bailout comes to parliament for a vote it will be one bill with two articles – one article will be the loan agreement and the MoU (memorandum of understanding), and the second article will be the prior actions,” another Greek official said, referring to measures Greece needs to take for the bailout accord to take effect.
