Greek PM Tsipras wins bailout vote, parliament approves 3rd bailout

Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Djisselbloem said that there were “differences” among foreign ministers of Eurozone, but they “managed to solve the last issues”.

The bailout is all that stands between Greece and a disorderly default on its debts – as soon as next week – that could force it out of Europe’s joint currency.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who took part in the meeting by telephone, said in a statement that the Fund believed Europe would need to provide “significant” debt relief as a complement to reforms Athens is taking to put Greece’s finances on a sustainable path.

Some analysts doubt whether the measures, which include raising taxes, cutting spending and privatizing state assets, will lead to growth and allow Greece to pay back its debts.

But he said the bailout terms will also create problems for many Greeks.

Euro zone finance ministers are expected to approve the vital aid for Athens later on Friday.

The deal must still be approved by some national parliaments, including Germany, but that is largely considered to be a formality.

Maltese finance minister Edward Scicluna said that the agreement depends on the determination of the Greek government to implement the reform measures, as well as harmonisation between the European Stability Mechanism and the International Monetary Fund.

The rescue package would give Greece about 85 billion euros ($93 billion) in loans over three years in exchange for harsh spending cuts and tax hikes. The vote came at a political cost for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who is fighting waning support from his own Syriza party and may have to call a confidence vote.

“This means that the “new” Syriza – the party likely to win the largest amount of votes and seats – will have to strike another coalition deal to govern”.

Greece’s parliament voted through economic and tax reforms in July in order to secure this third bailout.

But after a deadlock since January that ravaged the already weak Greek economy and which was ended in a dramatic U-turn a month ago by the anti-austerity leftist government to avert Athens’ expulsion from the euro zone, there was a cautious sense of optimism among ministers gathered in a Brussels deep in summer holiday languor.

“Syriza accepted a new, third bailout – austerity that goes against its program and pledges”, Lafazanis told Efimerida Ton Syntakton newspaper, adding that this “will open the way for a mutation of Syriza with an uncertain ending”.

If the bailout is not approved by the Eurogroup, it could decide to grant Greece 6.04 billion euros in bridge financing, according to German newspaper Bild, citing a European Commission proposal for the meeting.

“Together, we have looked into the abyss”.

The new deal ends months of high stakes and at times bitter negotiations, during which Greece came uncomfortably close to crashing out of the Eurozone. The biggest surprise was Greece, whose economy actually grew 0.8 percent during that period.