GREECE WILL RECEIVE all of a long-awaited €34.3 billion loan tranche from the EU and the IMF by Wednesday, a Greek official has said, hours after an initial payment was carried out.
“The full amount should arrive by Wednesday,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“A payment of €7 billion was made on Monday. There will be another €11.3 billion for debt buyback plus €16 billion to recapitalise Greek banks,” he added.
Following a decision by European leaders last week, another €14.8 billion from Greece’s ongoing EU-IMF assistance package is to be disbursed in the first quarter of next year.
Greece had been denied bailout funds since June owing to reform delays and a protracted electoral campaign that created uncertainty about the future of its promised fiscal overhaul.
The recession-hit country urgently needs the money to settle a €31.9 billion debt buyback carried out last week.
It must also recapitalise Greek banks that took a massive hit to their books in the spring from a write-down, a previous attempt to bring Greece’s huge sovereign debt under control.
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