Europe Reaches Agreement on New Rescue Package for Greece

European governments agreed on a third aid deal for Greece, signaling a determination to keep the country in the euro and setting aside doubts about its ability to repay its debts.

   Finance ministers of the 19-nation euro zone endorsed an 86 billion-euro ($96 billion) loan program, following two packages worth 240 billion euros since 2010. The fresh money will be parceled out over three years as Greece enacts economic reforms.

   The political accord will allow member states to sign off on the agreement next week and will buttress Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who came to office in January vowing to roll back budget cuts. He backed down when threatened with ouster from the euro and faces the challenge of forming a more stable government, possibly after new elections.

   “Euro membership isn’t unconditional, it requires major efforts from Greece,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters in Brussels late Friday. “Despite all the difficulties, all of us in the Eurogroup agreed that we wanted to seize this opportunity.”

Πηγή: bloomberg.com