Eurozone finance ministers said Thursday they decided to grant in principle a new bailout to Greece after the country’s parliament passed a first round of painful austerity measures, though several top officials expressed deep reservations about whether Athens could see the overhauls through.
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The legislation was approved with 229 votes in favor, 64 against and six abstentions – and won the support of three pro-European opposition parties.
The move comes as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s new cabinet was sworn in after he expelled ten dissidents who voted against reforms demanded by worldwide creditors in return for a third bailout package.
She defended the agreement reached between European leaders and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Brussels earlier this week after more than 17 hours of negotiations.
Many of Syriza’s hardline leftists voted against the measures, as did former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, the head of parliament Zoe Constantopoulou and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis.
The violence marred otherwise peaceful protests as thousands marched through Athens to demonstrate against the austerity measures. Daily withdrawals were limited to 60 euros.
He said the bank would raise its funding to lenders in Greece by $978 million over one week.
“It will allow Greece to clear its arrears with the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of Greece and to repay the ECB, until Greece would start receiving financing under a new programme from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)”, the European Council, which represents the bloc’s 28 member states, said in a statement referring to the EU’s bailout fund.
A total of 39 of out of 149 lawmakers of his Radical Left SYRIZA party defied party line in a blow for the Premier that fuelled concern over the fate of the coalition government in a crucial period for the country.
Greek assets for privatization will be parked in a special fund worth up to 50 billion euros, with some 25 billion euros of the money earmarked to recapitalize Greece’s banks.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti). Demonstrators gather near the Greek Parliament during a rally against the government’s agreement with its creditors in Athens, in central Athens, Tuesday, July 14, 2015.
Tsipras agreed to a deal after a marathon 17-hour eurozone summit that ended Monday morning.
“When we speak, I tell him to do the best for the country and take care of himself”.
The process is expected to last around four weeks and to lead to Greece getting around 85 billion euros ($93 billion) to help it pay off upcoming debts.
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A central bank official said the Bank of Greece was working with the finance ministry and examining all possibilities so the banks could open as soon as possible.
