Athens moved yesterday toward approving a new loan agreement with creditor countries, submitting its text to the Greek parliament while setting aside reservations from some other European states. After two weeks of talks with creditors’ representatives on the main reforms needed for a new three-year international aid package, Alexis Tsipras’s radical-left government submitted a 400-page bill detailing the coming changes less than 24 hours after announcing the agreement.
A government source told Agence France-Presse that the most likely timetable was for parliamentary committees to begin discussing the text this morning, followed by a plenary vote tonight.
The text was posted on parliament’s website the night before last. Relying on the main opposition parties’ 106 votes, the government was expected to secure approval for the extensive roadmap of budget measures and structural reforms. This would allow it to attend a meeting of euro-area finance ministers expected to be convened tomorrow from a stronger position. Athens hoped this would overcome the remaining reservations of its toughest partners.
The Greek prime minister said yesterday that he was confident an agreement would be concluded and a loan secured to end the country’s economic uncertainty. He also predicted failure for those in the euro area with a hidden plan to reshape the currency bloc by using Greece. A Greek government source said German Chancellor Angela Merkel had renewed her concerns about a rushed agreement in a telephone call with Tsipras the day before yesterday, their second call in two days. She preferred a bridging loan until an agreement could be reached on assistance worth €85–86 billion, according to Greece.