Friday, 17 July 2015

ECB raises Greek credit following result of bailout vote

Unknown | Friday, July 17, 2015 |
Bloom Gist: ECB raises Greek credit following result of bailout vote
Eurozone finance ministers have approved the launch of formal bailout talks with Greece, after the Greek parliament pushed through a raft of tough reforms set as the condition to open the negotiations.

"The Eurogroup welcomes the adoption by the Greek Parliament of all the commitments specified in the Euro Summit statement of 12 July," the Eurogroup of the eurozone's 19 finance ministers said in a statement after a conference call on Thursday.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said at a news conference in Frankfurt, Germany that emergency credit to Greek banks has been raised by $980 million over one week.

Greek banks have been closed since June 29 after the ECB opted against raising the credit it makes available.

Amid violent protests overnight, the Greek parliament voted early on Thursay in favour of tough austerity reforms in a bid to save the country from bankruptcy, despite opposition from a number of government legislators.

The package passed with 229 votes in favour in the 300-seat chamber, but 38 Syriza legislators abstained or voted against the government, including including former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, current Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, Deputy Labour Minister Dimitris Stratoulis and speaker of parliament Zoe Constantopoulou.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made a final appeal for support of the tough bailout measures imposed by European partners this week, telling legislators there was no alternative, even though he disagreed with the measures.

"We don't believe in it, but we are forced to adopt it," Tsipras said.

Related:  IMF issues threat to Greece ahead of bailout vote

The measures had to be approved by parliament before European partners would agree to open talks on a new multibillion euro bailout.

Independent eurozone analyst Yannis Koutsomitis told Al Jazeera that he expected a government reshuffle following the vote, as two or three ministers had voted against the bill.

However, Koutsomitis said he did not expect the prime minister to resign.

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