June 20, 2011
Euro zone finance ministers kept up intense pressure on Greece on Monday, saying it had to approve tougher austerity measures before a final decision is made on a further 12 billion euros ($17 billion) in loans.
Meeting into the early hours of Monday, ministers indicated that the next tranche of EU/IMF aid would be paid by mid-July, allowing Athens to avoid default, but said it was up to Greece to show concrete progress on plans to cut spending, raise taxes and generate other revenue streams first.
"We are waiting for a decision from the Greek parliament. We are calling for not just the government, but the Greek opposition to support the plan," Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said ahead of a second day of meetings in Luxembourg.
"We are increasing the pressure because there are precedents," he said, referring to Greece's not meeting commitments in the past and falsifying statistics. "We have to be sure that everyone is going to support the plan."
More
No comments:
Post a Comment