08 May, 2017
The bailout will release the next tranche of the €86bn in debt relief due to be given to the country, allowing it to pay off €7.5bn maturing in July, according to Reuters.
The nation's debt in 2016 stood at almost €315bn, or 179% of output, up from 177.4% in 2015.
However, as creditors continue to squabble over who should shoulder the burden of Greece's runaway debt, relief has not been forthcoming.
It follows progress made last month when bailout staff settled on the "size, timing and sequencing" of key future reforms. "This preliminary agreement will now be complemented by further discussions in the coming weeks on a credible strategy for ensuring that Greece's debt is sustainable", says the common statement of the European Commission, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday. Greece and its creditors have reached a deal that will restart bailout loan payments and keep the country from facing default and reigniting a eurozone crisis this summer, officials said Tuesday. It reckons Greek debt is unsustainable at 179 percent of gross domestic product and is reluctant to participate in further funding without a debt relief agreement.
Under the rescue deal signed up in 2015, the third since 2010, Greece has agreed to cut the dominance of its state-owned Public Power Corp in the retail market to below 50 percent by 2019 from about 90 percent now.
Greece's main opposition leader, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said with better negotiation the painful cutbacks could have been avoided and were tantamount to a "fourth memorandum" or bailout accord. It could also discuss reducing Greece's debt.
Both groups of lenders have differed markedly about what Greece's budget is capable of sustaining.
The lenders and Greece also agreed that Athens will relaunch the sale of a 66 percent stake in its natural gas grid operator DESFA and conclude it by the end of the year.
In fact, some officials worry that without stronger growth, Greece could face political instability as its austerity-weary population bristles under the prolonged measures.
"The government believes that this road, despite the difficulties, will lead to the country's exit from bailouts", Interior Minister Panos Skourletis said.
But Greece doesn't have much leverage. Its creditors hold all the cards and Germany, which faces a general election in September, is unlikely to accept any form of debt relief until after the poll.
"There was white smoke".
"The fourth memorandum is a joint achievement of Tsipras and [Panos] Kammenos", he said, adding that the deal has committed the country to measures beyond the current government's term in office.
Johanna Treeck in Frankfurt contributed reporting.
