After approval by the three institutions previously grouped as the “troika” (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund), the Eurogroup today endorsed thelist of reforms Athens proposed to get a 4-month extension to its bailout, which would keep the country afloat.
The list now goes to some member nations for approval.
"We therefore agreed to proceed with the national procedures with a view to reaching the final decision on the extension by up to four months," a eurogroup statement said.
Greece'sbailout program ends at the end of the month and without further support over the coming months, the country faces the possibility of going bankrupt, imposing capital controls and ditching the euro.
"The Eurogroup today discussed the first list of reform measures presented by the Greek authorities", said the official communique, "based on the current arrangement, which will be further specified and then agreed with the institutions at the latest by the end of April. The institutions provided us with their first view that they consider this list of measures to be sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review.
We therefore agreed to proceed with the national procedures with a view to reaching the final decision on the extension by up to four months of the current Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement.
We call on the Greek authorities to further develop and broaden the list of reform measures, based on the current arrangement, in close coordination with the institutions in order to allow for a speedy and successful conclusion of the review.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/eurogroup-approves-greece-draft-reforms