Eurozone
finance ministers approved a new €6.7 billion loan for Greece on Monday after
Athens pushed through controversial reforms.
The working
group of EU finance ministers said, however, that disbursement is not possible
until the Greek government fully follows through in adopting the final round of
“prior actions” that international lenders have demanded before paying out new
loans.
The lenders
claim that Greece has so far only implemented 92 of the 110 agreed steps needed
to receive loan payouts.
European
Commissioner for finance Pierre Moscovici, told reporters after the first
Eurogroup meeting with Portugal’s Mário Centeno as president ended with the
group of finance ministers agreeing that all auctions should be carried out
electronically via a new platform that is already in place.
According
to Centeno and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) managing director Klaus
Regling, the latest tranche from Greece’s third financial rescue programme
since 2010 amounts to €6.7 billion euros and will be used to cover debt
servicing (€3.3 billion), arrears (€1.5 billion) and to boost Greece’s cash
reserves (€1.9 billion), the last which is considered the most critical
component of the package as it is “critical to ensuring Greece’s full market
access,” according to the Eurogroup president.
The first
€5.7 billion sub-tranche is expected to be paid to Greece in February for debt
servicing needs, with the remaining €1
billion paid in April, according to Regling
Centeno
said that the eurozone would now start to look at cutting Greece’s debt,
equivalent to 180 percent of its annual economic output. “Looking ahead we can
start with technical work on debt relief measures,” he said.
The
Eurogroup will focus on measurements linked to economic growth to help with
debt relief, to which Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos responded at a
press conference that Athens will present an action plan aimed at persuading EU
institutions that there is a holistic approach to Greece’s growth strategy.
“The holistic growth prospect for Greece that
we call upon is considered critical to making sure that the post programme
status gains ownership in the country,” said Centeno, in comments that echoed
the Eurogroup’s most recent statements about Greece.
ECB vice-president candidate list to be
released by February 7
Eurozone
governments on Monday kicked off the process of finding a successor for
outgoing ECB Vice-President Vítor Constâncio, whose term expires in May.
A February
7th Eurogroup meeting will be the deadline for members to propose candidates
before the Economic and Financial Affairs Council formally approves the
candidates and includes them on the European Council.
Spanish
Finance Minister Luis de Guindos is widely expected to succeed Constâncio as
vice-president.