German lawmakers to vote on Greece bailout Wednesday

Senior Merkel allies Ralph Brinkhaus and Eckhardt Rehberg tried to put a positive spin on the Greek deal, noting that Schaeuble had won concessions on privatisations and that the first tranche of aid, at 26 billion euros, would be smaller than initially planned, keeping Athens on a tight leash.

Greece will receive up to €86bn (£61bn) in loans over the next three years, in return for tax rises and spending cuts.

“Of course there were differences, but we have managed to solve the last issues”, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Djisselbloem told the AP.

At a similar vote in July, 60 members of Merkel’s 311-member conservative bloc voted against further bailout negotiations to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debts.

Ten billion euros will be made available to recapitalize Greece banks, while a second slice of 16 billion euros will be paid in several installments, the wire service said.

“Euro membership isn’t unconditional, it requires major efforts from Greece”, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said late Friday in Brussels. A senior IMF official said this could take the form of longer grace periods, longer payment schedules and lower interest rates – the fund did not insist on outright cancellation of debt.

Even so, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose leftist Syriza party was deeply split in the vote, fell short of the 120 votes he would need to survive a censure motion, “leading to speculation he would call a confidence vote next week and snap elections as early as next month”, the Guardian reports.

The bill includes reforms increasing personal, company and shipping taxes, reducing some pensions, abolishing tax breaks for some groups considered vulnerable and implementing deep spending cuts, including to the armed forces.

Eurozone nations, along with the European Central Bank and the worldwide Monetary Fund, have already loaned Greece roughly 233 billion euros in rescue financing since 2010. “Greece is living up to its ambitious reform commitments”, Juncker said in a statement. Lafazanis signed a declaration with another 12 left-wing politicians Thursday saying they would start a new anti-austerity movement.