Greece bailout reform plans get tentative approval

Global Business

The Euro zone has backed the Greek bailout reform plan, but in order for the country to get more aid they will face some tough negotiations with creditors.
CCTV’s Eirini Zarkadoula filed this report from Athens.

Greece bailout reform plans get tentative approval

The Euro zone has backed the Greek bailout reform plan, but in order for the country to get more aid they will face some tough negotiations with creditors. CCTV’s Eirini Zarkadoula filed this report from Athens.

Greece will tiptoe at the edge of bankruptcy for a little while longer. After reviewing the proposed reforms the country’s European creditors called them, “a valid starting point.”

“This list is just an indication of the kind of reforms that they would like to push, like to replace, and also the ones that they would like to continue,” Eurozone Finance Ministers Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said. “And it is going to take time to really get into the details and to design a new contract or agreement which will carry us on for four months.”

Greece has pledged to honor ongoing or completed sales of state assets. They’ll also postpone any hike in the minimum wage and crackdown on tax evasion, smuggling and corruption.

The bailout negotiations were on hold until Greece submitted a list of reforms its European creditors would have to approve, before surrendering another $8.1 billion to avoid default.

This next installment of European funding isn’t guaranteed. In fact, Athens is doing what European lenders have demanded and that’s boosted investor confidence.

Greek financial markets, which reopened on Tuesday after the Brussels deal, surged on relief that the country had been pulled back from the brink of a potential banking collapse and possible state default. The financial catastrophe has been postponed, not prevented. Germany, Greece’s biggest creditor and harshest critic hasn’t approved the proposed reforms.