Funds for Greece approved by European bailout fund

The German parliament has approved a third bailout deal for Greece by a large margin.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has an overwhelming majority in Parliament, to the tune of about 80 percent, so approval of the bailout was never really in question.

“Thus, it is equally critical for medium- and long-term debt sustainability that Greece’s European partners make concrete commitments”.

European bailout fund supervisors approved the release on Wednesday evening. There were 63 anti-bailout votes from the conservative benches, three more than at the last German vote on aid for Greece in July.

All told, more than one quarter of conservative MPs either voted against, abstained or were no shows on Wednesday.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (C) addresses a session of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, August 19, 2015, prior to a vote on Greece’s third bailout programme.

Greek ministers have spoken openly about the possibility of a parliamentary confidence vote leading to elections since Tsipras had to rely on opposition lawmakers to win approval for the bailout on Friday.

The Dutch parliament was also reportedly set to support the Greek bailout, after the governing liberal party said it would back the package despite its “many doubts”.

Underlining the controversy throughout the eurozone surrounding the latest lifeline for Athens, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was to face a grilling in his own parliament, and a possible no-confidence vote, over his cabinet’s support for the bailout. It is tied to several conditions, including privatizations, cuts in public spending and a slew of reforms that Greek voters rejected in January, when they elected the anti-austerity Syriza government, and in a subsequent referendum.

The JV will invest around €1.4bn to upgrade the airports during the life of the concession and is expected to spend around €330m in the upgrade of airports in the first four years, reported Reuters.

Asian markets provided a negative lead, slumping on Thursday on heightened concerns about the health of China’s economy after Federal Reserve minutes from its last policy meeting clouded the outlook for US interest rates.

“If Greece stands by its obligations and the program is completely and resolutely implemented, then the Greek economy can grow again“, he said. “The opportunity is there”. Of this initial €26bn, €13bn will be available for use by the Greek government straight away, followed by a further €3bn in November. There’s also growing talk in Greece that Tsipras may opt for early elections as soon as next month now that the bailout deal is in place. But after months of tortuous discussions with creditors, he reluctantly announced a U-turn so the country could get the rescue money to keep Greek’s financial system afloat and in the process remain a member of the 19-country eurozone.