ATHENS: The deal calls for Greece, already reeling from harsh austerity measures, to cut back even further in exchange for more loans without which its financial system would surely collapse
Greece reached a deal with its European creditors Monday that avoids an exit from the euro and the global financial chaos that prospect had raised. The deal calls for Greece, already reeling from harsh austerity measures, to cut back even further in exchange for more loans without which its financial system would surely collapse.
French President Francois Hollande said the Greek parliament would convene within hours to adopt the reforms called for in the plan, and he celebrated Greece’s continued membership in the euro. For the eurozone to have lost Greece, Hollande said, would have been to lose “the heart of our civilization.”
The agreement came after months of often bitter negotiations and a summit that stretched from Sunday afternoon well into Monday morning. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had been holding out for a better deal to sell to his reluctant legislature in Athens this week, even as financial collapse grew closer by the day.
A breakthrough came in a meeting between Tsipras, Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU President Donald Tusk, after the threat of expulsion from the euro put intense pressure on Tsipras to swallow politically unpalatable austerity measures in exchange for the country’s third bailout in five years.
“We took the responsibility of the decision to be able to avert the harshest outcome,” Tsipras said. “We managed to avert the demand to transfer Greek assets abroad, to avert the collapse of the banking system.”
The deal includes commitments from Tsipras to push a drastic austerity program including pension, market and privatization reforms through parliament by Wednesday. In return, the 18 other eurozone leaders committed to start talks on a new bailout program that should stave off the imminent collapse of the Greek financial system.
A Cypriot official said the creditors would look into bridge financing for Greece later Monday, suggesting that the political decision could pave the way for the European Central Bank to extend emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks. Without it, they risk running out of cash this week. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the deal publicly.
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