Greek bail-out draft sent to political leaders

Financial Times
February 7, 2012

Greece’s political leaders are set to decide whether to approve further austerity measures at a meeting on Tuesday night, after a final draft detailing the terms of a second €130bn bailout was distributed to the heads of three political parties.

In a small sign of progress after days of missed deadlines, the office of prime minister Lucas Papademos said a draft document had been sent to the three parties who support the coalition government, allowing them a few hours to consider the measures with their economic advisors before meeting with Mr Papademos at 9pm (7pm GMT).

“We’re confident of getting an agreement within the day,” said a government official.

US stock markets inched upwards on hopes of a deal, with the S&P 500 adding 0.12 per cent, while the euro reversed an early decline to advance above $1.3250 for the first time this year.

Greece has already missed two deadlines this week because of political brinkmanship, further exasperating its European paymasters while raising fresh doubts about whether it will be able to stave off outright default.

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