Greek Bailout 3.0

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said he expects the bill to pass.

The agreement sees Tsipras accepting measures he had resisted until just a few months ago: the sale of some state property, deep cuts to pensions and military spending, and the ending of certain tax credits to people considered vulnerable.

“I believe it’s going to be hard for the next two to three years, but we will finally get through this”, she said.

“We are very close”. Breidthardt said the details were expected to be cleared up later in the day.

Several eurozone parliaments, including Germany’s Bundestag, also have to sign off on the bailout deal with German lawmakers expected to vote on the plan early next week.

The deal, which came after 23 hours of talks that continued through the night, must still be adopted by Greece’s parliament and by euro zone countries.

The European Commission said today that Greece has reached a technical agreement “in principle” with its worldwide creditors on a third debt bailout.

The International Monetary Fund had no immediate comment Tuesday but indicated its position had not changed.

The Kathimerini newspaper said the Greek government would have to immediately implement 35 measures before the deal can kick in.

Greece says it needs around $22 billion quickly to repay loans and revive its beleaguered banking sector. “Nick Dearden, director of UK-based advocacy group Global Justice Now, released a statement to Sputnik saying that the bailout agreement would turn Greece into a “corporate paradise”, with locals to ultimately lose out.

But it said it must study the deal further before deciding whether it was ready for approval by the German Parliament.

However, the government spokeswoman insisted Monday that “there are no electoral thoughts”.

According to an unnamed official, cited by Reuters, the Alexis Tsipras-led government has committed to a primary deficit target of 0.25 percent of GDP in 2015 and a surplus in 2016.

In 2016 the primary surplus – the balance not including debt service – will be 0.5 per cent, followed by 1.75 per cent in 2017 and 3.5 per cent in 2018, the source added.

However, even a part of his ruling radical left SYRIZA party remains unconvinced. Getting debt relief from its European creditors requires that the country passes reviews assessing its implementation of the deal. Europe has already provided Greece with 7.16 billion euros in a bridge loan. They note, however, that the economy likely took a big hit after the second quarter, when the government was forced to shut banks for about a month and put limits on money withdrawals.

Greek banks, closed for much of July, have been kept on a lifeline by the European Central Bank and are limiting cash withdrawals to a weekly 420 euros per customer to prevent a run.