Factbox: Next steps on path to Greek bailout

Reuters
February 13, 2012

Greek parliamentarians have voted through an austerity package that keeps their hopes of securing a 130 billion euros bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund on track.

But more hurdles have to be cleared before loans start flowing, which are vital if Greece is to avoid a default in March when it faces 14.5 billion euros of bond repayments, a bill it cannot foot alone.

Following are the next steps in the process.

THIS WEEK:

- Having secured parliamentary approval against a backdrop of violent protest across Greece, Athens must now detail where it will find an extra 325 million euros of cuts demanded last week by euro zone finance ministers. It must produce written commitments from the main party leaders that they will stick to the programme before and after elections which could come as soon as April.

- If it delivers those two demands, euro zone finance ministers, the Eurogroup, will meet again on Wednesday. An "in principle" agreement to deliver the bailout could well come out of the meeting but until it is clear what proportion of Greece's private creditors will agree to take losses, the package cannot be finalized. "The Commission will seek a political signal at the Eurogroup that the programme is agreed," a European Commission source said.

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