Eurogroup approves Greek bailout

“Of course there were differences, but we have managed to solve the last issues”, Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters in Brussels.

Finance ministers from the 19-member eurozone approved a package late Friday that will see Greece receive 86 billion euros ($96 billion) over three years in exchange for far-reaching pro-market reforms.

“We look forward to working with the authorities to develop their programme in more detail and for Greece’s European partners to make decisions on debt relief that will allow Greece’s debt to become sustainable”, said Delia Velculescu, the IMF’s negotiator on Greece in this round of bailout talks.

Finance ministers from the eurozone were meeting in Brussels yesterday expecting to give their final blessing to lending Greece up to 85.5bn after the parliament in Athens agreed to stiff conditions overnight.

The bailout bill passed through the 300-member Parliament on a 222-to-64 vote, thanks to support from opposition parties.

The unexpectedly large contingent of dissenters, including former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, heaped pressure on Tsipras to clear the rebels swiftly from his party and call early elections in the hope of locking in popular support.

“We must respect our calendar”, he said.

Defending the bailout, Mr Tsipras insisted: “We took the decision to remain alive instead of committing suicide and complaining how unfair it was”.

Lagarde said that Athens needs “well beyond what has been considered so far” and that the country “cannot restore debt sustainability exclusively through actions on its own”.

140-c-12-(Derek Gatopoulos, AP correspondent)-“much more likely”-AP correspondent Derek Gatopoulos reports even though another bailout draft has been approved in a parliamentary vote, the Greek government coalition is suffering from more dissent”.

Athens is keen to get ratification so it can avoid having to take a new bridge loan to make the payment – a prospect Tsipras called a return to the country’s crisis days.

The German Bundestag could vote on the Greek bailout as soon as Tuesday, following the eurozone’s approval.

There is also concern about Greece’s slowing economy, about whether the country can generate enough revenue to pay its debts according to the bailout schedule. Elections this fall are not certain, but government officials are privately hinting at them and many analysts expect them, because Mr. Tsipras has no stable governing majority in parliament to implement the bailout.

A deal is needed to keep Greece in the eurozone and avert bankruptcy.

Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said that the past six months of negotiations with the left-wing government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had been hard and testing.