Greece’s parliament approves third bailout

Greece’s partners in the euro currency are debating whether to give that country billions of dollars in new loans, now that the Greek parliament has passed a package of painful reforms and spending cuts.

The move saves Greece from a disorderly default on its debts which could have come as soon as next week and helps end months of uncertainty that has shaken world markets, but it means more hardship for ordinary Greeks.

Germany’s parliament will decide on whether to approve the new bailout deal on Wednesday.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that the deal has sent a message “loud and clear that Greece is and will irreversibly remain a member of the Eurozone”.

The government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras completed its abrupt about-face by accepting even more restrictive austerity terms from the rest of the eurozone last month after a July 5 referendum rejected worldwide creditors’ demands for austerity measures.

After backing two previous bailouts, the International Monetary Fund renewed its call for the Europeans to grant Athens debt relief – a bone of contention between the Eurogroup and the Washington-based fund. “We undertook the responsibility to stay alive over choosing suicide”.

However, Dijsselbloem said the package was the “strongest and most concrete” agreed with Greece to date and money promised in the bailout would only be released gradually.

The deal, which surrenders powers over huge areas of economic and social policymaking to Greece’s global creditors, also has to be ratified by a number of national parliaments, including Germany’s – a process Athens wants completed in time for it to make a major €3.2bn payment to the European Central Bank on 20 August.

Reports in Greece suggest he will seek a vote of confidence in parliament next week, bringing the prospect of snap elections closer.

On Friday, the agreement will be reviewed for final approval by the Eurogroup, which includes finance ministers from the 19 eurozone countries.

Parliamentary speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou, one of the Syriza hardliners, snubbed a request from Tsipras to speed up handling of the bailout bill.

“The fight against the new bailout starts today, by mobilising people in every corner of the country”, said a statement signed by Mr Lafazanis and 11 other Syriza members and posted on the far-left faction’s Iskra website. That clears the way for euro zone ministers to approve the deal later on Friday. Greece’s obligations will peak at 201 percent of gross domestic product next year, before dropping to 160 percent in 2022 under a new rescue program, according to their projections in a document obtained by Bloomberg.

Euro zone finance ministers will meet in an remarkable session on Friday evening and are expected to see through the deal.