Financial Times
June 19, 2011
Eurozone finance ministers tried to hammer out a deal on Sunday night to allow the European Union and International Monetary Fund to give out €12bn in aid to Greece that would prevent Athens from defaulting on debt payments in mid-July.
Despite months of bitter differences over conditions of the aid payment, finance ministers were expected to sign off on the disbursement after the IMF last week dropped its threat to block its portion of the payment unless a new Greek €120bn ($172bn) bail-out was approved on Monday.
Although the concession allows EU ministers to delay a decision on the bail-out, the €12bn payment is still far from certain: both the EU and IMF have made Greece’s acceptance of new austerity measures a condition of the disbursement, and the Greek government is struggling to win parliamentary support.
“It depends on Greece,” said Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, as he headed into the meeting. “Europe is ready to do its share.”
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