27 May, 2017
The eurozone's leading official Jeroen Dijsselbloem said a broad settlement involving the next payout and the outlines of a debt relief deal is close, and could be reached in three weeks when finance ministers from the 19 countries from the single currency bloc meet in Luxembourg on June 15. The loans are essential to Athens repaying 7.3 billion euros of loans set to mature in July.
However, Germany and the Netherlands, among other creditors, have consistently stated they will not keep bailing out Greece if the International Monetary Fund pulls out. "We will now work to conclude a good deal on June 15th".
"Greece has been promised debt relief over and over again if reforms are carried out", German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.
An unconditional debt relief promise is hard to swallow for Germany, which faces elections in September, and several other countries, which all want to retain some leverage over the Greek government to make sure it delivers on all the promised reforms until 2018.
"I feel a strong willingness by all parties without exception to reach an overall deal", the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said in a news briefing.
To get the money, the Greek parliament approved pension cuts and tax hikes last Thursday.
"We have made huge progress on the policy package on which so much work has been done", Dijsselbloem said, adding that certain issues still needed to be addressed. The IMF wants eurozone governments to spell out the various measures in more detail.
The meeting will be the first for French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, named to his post last week by Macron, a pro-EU centrist.
Schaeuble opposes debt relief, but at the same time refuses to unlock more loans to Greece without the partnership of the International Monetary Fund, which he sees as a guarantor of financial rigour.
The IMF, which has sought debt relief for Greece, has stayed away from the latest bailout as it seeks assurance from the European Union regarding the sustainability of the country's massive debt pile. "Now it's our partners and lenders who have a moral, political and legal duty to meet theirs", spokesman for the Greek government Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told reporters.
Without a deal, no new loans can be disbursed to Athens.
While having the IMF on board has repeatedly been mentioned by euro-area governments as a condition for additional funds, officials were less explicit on the point after Monday's meeting, signaling that Greece may receive the next tranche of euro-area funds without having the Fund fully on board.
Le Maire says it's "important there be a solution that reassures the Greek people and of course reassures Greece's creditors".
The protracted nature of Greece's bailout program has been costly for the country.
