| New York Times | - |
ATHENS - Euro zone officials on Monday approved the release of 2.8 billion euros, or $3.7 billion, in loans to Greece,
the country's Finance Ministry said, paving the way for the approval of
an additional 6-billion-euro installment at a meeting of the ...
Euro Zone Releases Next Set of Loans for Greece
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
Published: April 29, 2013
ATHENS — Euro zone officials on Monday approved the release of 2.8
billion euros, or $3.7 billion, in loans to Greece, the country’s
Finance Ministry said, paving the way for the approval of an additional
6-billion-euro installment at a meeting of the currency union’s finance
ministers in mid-May.
The Greek Parliament late Sunday approved a controversial plan to
dismiss 15,000 civil servants by the end of next year as part of a new
package of economic measures asked for by Greece’s foreign creditors:
the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission.
The $3.7 billion approved Monday in Brussels was originally to have been
disbursed in March but was delayed after negotiations stalled over the
creditors’ demands for civil service cuts. The May installment is
dependent on further action by Athens, including an overhaul of the tax
collection system.
The Greek government’s latest measures passed in a vote held shortly
before midnight with 168 votes in the 300-seat House.
A last-minute amendment allowing local authorities to hire young Greeks
for less than the minimum wage of 586 euros a month fueled angry
protests by the political opposition. But the inclusion of measures
intended to ease some of the financial burden on homeowners, including a
15 percent reduction in a new property tax, clinched the support of
lawmakers in the three-party ruling coalition.
Defending the bill, the finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, insisted that there was no choice.
“Greece is still cut off from the markets,” he told lawmakers, adding
that the government’s chief aim was to achieve a primary surplus before
seeking a further “drastic” reduction of its debt, which at the end of
last year was 160 percent of gross domestic product.
In the last three years, the incomes of Greece’s citizens have dwindled
by a third and unemployment has skyrocketed to 27 percent.
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