Eurozone finance ministers voiced optimism Friday they would endorse a huge third bailout for Greece designed to save the country from financial collapse and a chaotic exit from the euro.
The Eurogroup talks opened in Brussels just hours after Greek lawmakers capped a bitter all-night debate by voting for the rescue plan worth 85 billion euros ($95 billion) over three years in return for tough and wide-sweeping reforms.
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of Germany, Europe's effective paymaster as well as a hard taskmaster on the bailout, raised hopes of a deal when he arrived for the talks with his 18 eurozone peers.
"I am confident in the fact that we are going to get a result today," said Schaeuble who has taken a tough line on the bailout.
"If we do not get an accord today, then we will have to arrange a bridging loan," he told reporters, referring to emergency financing for Greece to cover a debt payment due August 20 to the European Central Bank.
Schaeuble was nonetheless likely to press his Greek counterpart Euclid Tsakalotos to clear up questions Germany still had about the deal, including plans to privatise parts of the Greek economy.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned that any German bid to palm off his debt-laden country with a bridging loan would be "a return to a crisis without end" and appealed to the finance ministers to reject the proposal.
Greece and its creditors -- the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund -- are under pressure to finalise the deal before August 20, when Athens must pay 3.4 billion euros to the ECB.
Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said as he arrived for the meeting that "debt sustainability is still a major point of concern," adding it would be "very important" for the IMF and Europe to agree how to tackle the issue.
IMF head Christine Lagarde is due to follow the meeting via a teleconference link.
The IMF is reluctant to take part in the new rescue package unless the Europeans can agree on some form of relief for Greece's debt mountain -- equivalent to 170 percent of GDP -- to bring it down to a sustainable level.
Germany is adamant the IMF must be part of the deal but is also hostile to prospects of a "haircut" or partial writedown, which could potentially cost it and other holders of Greek debt billions of euros.
- 'Prefer compromise to suicide' -
A third of MPs in Tsipras's radical-left party Syriza rebelled against him in Friday's vote, and he only managed to push the deal through with the help of the opposition -- raising fresh speculation he will be forced to call early elections.
Syriza swept to power in January on a wave of popular anger against the austerity demanded by creditors in exchange for two previous bailouts costing 240 billion euros.
Critics say the painful reforms have strangled the Greek economy, which only emerged from six years of brutal recession in 2014.
By backing a deal that involves more tough reforms, Tsipras has faced widespread accusations from within his party that he has abandoned his principles and capitulated to blackmail from the creditors.
Their demands go far beyond economic management to include an extensive overhaul of Greece's health and social welfare systems.
Seemingly small details of daily life will be affected by the new rules, from visits to the doctor to an extension of the expiry dates on pasteurised milk in the supermarkets.
But Tsipras told parliament his government has "taken on the responsibility to continue the fight rather than commit suicide and then go running to other international forums saying it wasn't fair that we had to kill ourselves."
- Hardline Finland optimistic -
Aside from a green light from the eurozone, there are numerous other political hurdles the deal will need to clear in order to move ahead, including votes in several European parliaments.
The German parliament's vote would be a key step in the process and Bundestag president Norbert Lammert said this would happen on August 18 or 19 if the bailout gets a Eurogroup thumbs-up.
Finland became the first eurozone peer to endorse the deal on Thursday, albeit with conditions.
Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, who like Schaeuble has taken a hard line on the bailout, said he was optimistic and "would be surprised if we do not get an agreement today".
Eurozone finance ministers voiced optimism Friday they would endorse a huge third bailout for Greece designed to save the country from financial collapse and a chaotic exit from the euro.
The Eurogroup talks opened in Brussels just hours after Greek lawmakers capped a bitter all-night debate by voting for the rescue plan worth 85 billion euros ($95 billion) over three years in return for tough and wide-sweeping reforms.
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of Germany, Europe’s effective paymaster as well as a hard taskmaster on the bailout, raised hopes of a deal when he arrived for the talks with his 18 eurozone peers.
“I am confident in the fact that we are going to get a result today,” said Schaeuble who has taken a tough line on the bailout.
“If we do not get an accord today, then we will have to arrange a bridging loan,” he told reporters, referring to emergency financing for Greece to cover a debt payment due August 20 to the European Central Bank.
Schaeuble was nonetheless likely to press his Greek counterpart Euclid Tsakalotos to clear up questions Germany still had about the deal, including plans to privatise parts of the Greek economy.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned that any German bid to palm off his debt-laden country with a bridging loan would be “a return to a crisis without end” and appealed to the finance ministers to reject the proposal.
Greece and its creditors — the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — are under pressure to finalise the deal before August 20, when Athens must pay 3.4 billion euros to the ECB.
Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said as he arrived for the meeting that “debt sustainability is still a major point of concern,” adding it would be “very important” for the IMF and Europe to agree how to tackle the issue.
IMF head Christine Lagarde is due to follow the meeting via a teleconference link.
The IMF is reluctant to take part in the new rescue package unless the Europeans can agree on some form of relief for Greece’s debt mountain — equivalent to 170 percent of GDP — to bring it down to a sustainable level.
Germany is adamant the IMF must be part of the deal but is also hostile to prospects of a “haircut” or partial writedown, which could potentially cost it and other holders of Greek debt billions of euros.
– ‘Prefer compromise to suicide’ –
A third of MPs in Tsipras’s radical-left party Syriza rebelled against him in Friday’s vote, and he only managed to push the deal through with the help of the opposition — raising fresh speculation he will be forced to call early elections.
Syriza swept to power in January on a wave of popular anger against the austerity demanded by creditors in exchange for two previous bailouts costing 240 billion euros.
Critics say the painful reforms have strangled the Greek economy, which only emerged from six years of brutal recession in 2014.
By backing a deal that involves more tough reforms, Tsipras has faced widespread accusations from within his party that he has abandoned his principles and capitulated to blackmail from the creditors.
Their demands go far beyond economic management to include an extensive overhaul of Greece’s health and social welfare systems.
Seemingly small details of daily life will be affected by the new rules, from visits to the doctor to an extension of the expiry dates on pasteurised milk in the supermarkets.
But Tsipras told parliament his government has “taken on the responsibility to continue the fight rather than commit suicide and then go running to other international forums saying it wasn’t fair that we had to kill ourselves.”
– Hardline Finland optimistic –
Aside from a green light from the eurozone, there are numerous other political hurdles the deal will need to clear in order to move ahead, including votes in several European parliaments.
The German parliament’s vote would be a key step in the process and Bundestag president Norbert Lammert said this would happen on August 18 or 19 if the bailout gets a Eurogroup thumbs-up.
Finland became the first eurozone peer to endorse the deal on Thursday, albeit with conditions.
Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, who like Schaeuble has taken a hard line on the bailout, said he was optimistic and “would be surprised if we do not get an agreement today”.
