The EuroGroup meeting has come to and end, and an agreement on the Greek issue has apparently been reached in Luxembourg. The debate over Greece lasted about one and a half hours. The Eurozone Finance Ministers appear to have reached an agreement on the Greek matter and according to the information available, Greece will receive a tranche of € 8.5 billion, as well as a “promise” for debt relief. The first 7.7 billion sub-tranche is expected to be released at the start of July.
The creditors are pushing for primary surpluses of 3.5% until 2022, but they are purportedly trying to compel the Tsipras government to accept that subsequent governments will achieve primary surpluses until 2060, effectively meaning a long, harsh road of austerity for the Greek people for the next 43 years.
EuroGroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Greece has agreed to produce 3.5% GDP primary surpluses until 2022. He went on to tweet “We will prepare an exit strategy to enable #Greece to stand on its own feet again next year” and “Major step forward for #Greece today in #eurogroup: agreement on all elements. Now going into last year of financial support programme”.
European Commissioner Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted “The second programme review and the agreed disbursement help boost the confidence in Greece economy and its recovery.”
Cypriot Finance Minister Harris Georgiades tweeted there was unanimity on the meeting over Greece.
