Eurozone ministers nemen beslissing over Griekse bail-out (en)
BRUSSELS - Eurozone finance ministers on Monday (20 February) are expected to decide on a second bail-out package for Greece, after weeks of delays and external pressure on local politicians to stick to the highly contested austerity programme after elections are held.
Highlighting the importance of the occasion, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos i is also in Brussels with his office saying that today's meeting could "take very important decisions for the country and require immediate and thorough consultation between the Prime Minister and minister of finance."
Apart from seeking approval from eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund on the €130bn bail-out, Papademos is also expected to hold talks with private creditors on a €100-billion debt relief deal.
Greece is struggling to secure the rescue deal before a 20 March deadline when it has to repay €14.5bn worth of bonds.
The parliament has already agreed on a €3.2bn package of highly unpopular spending cuts. The preceding parliamentary debate was accompanied by violent street protests and saw one far-right party leave the ruling coalition in the hope of boosting its popularity ahead of general elections due in April.
Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Finland have in past weeks increased the pressure on political leaders to commit to the austerity measures no matter who wins the elections.
Berlin has meanwhile indicated it expects the deal to go through on Monday, after it made sure that several of its conditions are met: written pledges from coalition leaders and a special escrow account where bail-out money and Greek taxes will be earmarked for paying back the country's debtors.
"There is agreement within the Eurogroup that there will be such a special account, or 'escrow account' in jargon, for the disbursement of the second aid package," German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble told German daily Tagesspiegel on Sunday. "The account ensures a priority for debt reduction," he added.
Two more pieces of legislation, including wage and pension cuts, are due to be passed on Monday through parliament, with some 3,000 people protesting the cuts on Sunday. Some protesters were injured in clashes with police and some 60 people were detained.
One outstanding issue for ministers to resolve on Monday is the bridging of €6 billion gap in order to meet the target of reducing Greece's debt from 160 to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. The European Central Bank and national central banks are expected to step in by giving up their profits on the Greek bonds they hold.