Greece’s parliament votes to back package of reforms

Whether or not lenders accept the deal, Greece will have to overcome a hardening of attitudes toward it among its eurozone partners, including Germany, which has contributed more to Greek bailouts than any other country.

With caveats, though, he said the “chances for a deal and another bailout for Greece have increased again”. “Nobody’s coming in, because everyone’s living off a drip”, said Magda Petridi, a fortune teller who runs a shop selling good luck charms, aromatic oils and trinkets.

But Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says this agreement is the better than the others.

Weidmann said he welcomed the fact that central bank credit “is no longer being used to finance capital flight caused by the Greek government”.

According to IDC, Greek IT spending has already dropped by a third compared to its 2007 pre-crisis peak.

Valls conceded that France and Germany had a “different rapport” with regard to Greece but that difference didn’t hurt the overall relationship between the two countries.

The coalition government has 162 seats in the 300-member parliament and pledged backing on a deal from a large section of opposition lawmakers. He has a growing support base that includes the US, European Union President Donald Tusk and the International Monetary Fund.

Even as shuttered storefronts and lengthy ATM queues offer not-so-subtle reminder of the country’s economic crisis, most Greeks remain convinced that all will work out in the end.

Greece met a Thursday deadline with a sweeping reform package that it hopes will convince creditors to turn lend it billions more, which would secure the country’s place in the 19-country eurozone.

The BBC’s Mark Lowen in Athens says the Greek reform package is a major climbdown for the prime minister, whose radical left-wing Syriza party was elected on a strong anti-austerity platform.

He didn’t specify who exactly he meant.

A pro-Euro demonstrator holds a European Union flag in front of Greek Parliament during a rally at Syntagma square in Athens, Thursday, July 9, 2015.

The official also said that bridge financing for Greece would also be discussed if the aid programme was agreed upon at the Eurogroup meeting.

“The proposals are not compatible with the Syriza program”, said Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis. If there is an agreement, the government will have to get a mandate from the German Parliament to open full-fledged negotiations with Greece.

“There is no doubt that for six months now we’ve been in a war”, he said, adding that his government had fought “difficult battles” and had lost some of them.

Greece asked for $59 billion to help cover its debts until 2018, a review of primary surplus targets in light of the sharp deterioration of its economy, and a reprofiling of the country’s long-term debt.

Germany, the Netherlands and several Nordic and eastern European states are hostile to another rescue and want to see Greece stick to reforms it has rejected, on taxes and pensions, before it talks of debt relief.

By John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels.

Discussions, he added, must “now begin, must resume, but with the will to reach a conclusion”.

European stock markets have responded positively to the reform proposals that the Greek government sent overnight to creditors.

The comments on Thursday boosted market confidence that a compromise will be found. The Stoxx 50 index of top European shares was up 2.4 percent in late afternoon trading.

The Greek parliament has voted an overwhelming “Yes” to the crucial third version of a deal aimed at freeing up 53.5 billion euros in bailout funds from its global creditors.

The ironic part is that the new Greek proposal is essentially a replica of what the creditors had offered and from which Greece walked away two weeks back.

The FTSEurofirst’s rise on Friday moved it further away from a five-month low hit on Wednesday.

The euro drove higher against the dollar Friday, with investors gearing up for a decision on Greece’s latest economic-reform proposal, which could lead to the release of new bailout funds.