Greek PM wants European parliament to join creditors quartet

Greece met its Thursday deadline to repay EUR3.4 billion to the European Central Bank, the Frankfurt-based lender confirmed, hours after Athens received a 13-billion-euro payment from its newly approved bailout.

Schaeuble told lawmakers that while voting in favor of the bailout wasn’t an easy decision for him, approval of the three-year loan package is “in the interest of Greece and the interest of Europe”.

The new three-year bailout is worth 86 billion euros ($95.6 billion), and the disbursement of funds is dependent on the Greek government implementing a series of reforms, including steep tax hikes and spending cuts.

The German and Dutch parliaments were the last to approve the bailout on Wednesday, after lawmakers in Spain, Estonia, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland also gave their go-ahead.

The deal will also need approval from the parliaments of several other countries before any funds can be disbursed.

The deal is also supported by Merkel’s coalition partner, the Social Democrats, and the opposition Greens.

While the normally hardline Mr Schaeuble has publicly thrown his weight behind the deal, there remains deep unease in Germany over the third bailout.

Rutte’s coalition government easily survived a no-confidence vote at the end of Wednesday’s debate.

The motion was rejected by a margin of 81-52 in the 150-member parliament. It must also pass a review in October to win access to the rest of the funds. Greece has suffered through an economic depression in the past six years and seen unemployment jump to over 25 percent.

“After months of hard and intense negotiations, all sides have respected their commitments and have created an opportunity to restore mutual trust, financial stability and confidence, which are preconditions for Greek economy to grow again“, the European Commission said in a statement.

The rescue package, which was formally approved on Wednesday, comes after months of tense bailout talks and uncertainty about Greece’s economic future.

Tsipras’ Syriza topped January’s election on a promise to bring an end to hated budget austerity measures but after months of tortuous discussions with creditors, he was forced into a U-turn so the country could get the rescue money that keeps Greece in the 19-country eurozone.

Tsipras outlined the request in a letter to the parliament’s president, Martin Schulz.