EU approves bridging loan for Greece
July 17, 2015
The European Union will provide Greece with a loan of 7.16 billion euros ($7.78 billion) by Monday. The funds will come from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM).
European Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis made the announcement on Friday afternoon:
"We have an agreement on the bridge financing for Greece based on the EFSM loan. This agreement, backed by 28 European Union member states, prevents Greece from an immediate default. It means that 7.16 billion euro will reach Greece by Monday," Dombrovskis told reporters.
Dombrovskis also said that the European Commission hoped an agreement with Greece on a new loan program could be reached within the next two weeks.
He added that non-euro nations' taxpayers would not be at risk.
The loan will have a maximum maturity of three months and will be disbursed in up to two installments. It will allow Greece to clear its arrears with the IMF and the Bank of Greece and to repay the ECB "until Greece would start receiving financing under a new programme from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)," the EU press release stated on Friday.
The EFSM is an emergency funding programme which relies on funds raised on the financial markets and guaranteed by the European Commission using the budget of the European Union as collateral.
German approval
Also on Friday, politicians in the Bundestag approved the reopening of debt talks with Greece. The vote passed by a margin of 439 to 119.
Opening the debate, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for "European solidarity" with Greece so it would "come out stronger than it went in."
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble defended the bailout as a "last try to perform an incredibly difficult task."
Germany's role within the eurozone has been central to achieving an agreement on the bailout deal with Greece.
Popular misgivings run deep in Germany, which has already contributed most to Greece's two bailouts since 2010.
jm/kms (AFP, dpa)