Greece, lenders clinch bailout deal after marathon talks

“I think we are very close”, Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said as he emerged Tuesday morning from all-night talks with negotiators representing Greece’s creditors at a central Athens…

During talks, which dragged through the night, the sides agreed on final fiscal targets that should govern the bail-out effort, aiming for a primary budget surplus – which excludes interest payments – from 2016, a government official said.

The institutional creditors – the worldwide Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the EU – have been working with Greek officials to finalize the bailout agreement in Athens since the end of June.

A government source told state agency ANA that Athens had committed to a primary deficit of 0.25 percent of output in 2015, and a surplus in 2016, meaning that no new fiscal measures will be necessary until then, the source said.

This would likely unlock around Euro 86 billion loans for Greece.

Greece needs a deal by August. 20 at the latest, when it has a debt repayment of a little more than 3 billion euros to make to the European Central Bank. The new bailout package would come on top of $265 billion the country received in two prior bailouts since 2010.

Officials had also argued over how to set up a sovereign wealth fund in Greece designed to raise 50 billion euros from privatisations, three-quarters of which would be used to recapitalise banks and to reduce the debt.

During Monday’s negotiations, a senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested any bailout should be offered in smaller chunks.

An agreement would close a painful chapter of aid talks for Greece, which fought against austerity terms demanded by creditors for much of the year before relenting under the threat of being bounced out of the euro zone.

However, many in the governing left-wing Syriza party are voicing their opposition to the deal, which would see the imposition of further spending cuts among a series of austerity measures. This would be followed on Friday by a Eurogroup and the process of other eurozone parliaments approving the deal. Athens and the negotiators are hoping to conclude talks Tuesd…