A report claiming Athens has not made enough progress in clearing debt arrears is being blamed for a eurozone decision to suspend a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) loan to Greece.
The board of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) decided on Friday against disbursing the remaining sub-tranche of its loan, following the report by creditors.
On March 27, the ESM approved a fourth tranche of financial assistance to Greece amounting to €6.7 billion, including the release of €5.7 billion for debt servicing needs, arrears clearance and for the building up of a cash buffer.
According to the decision, the remaining €1 billion would have been disbursed “subject to positive reporting by the European institutions on the clearance of net arrears and a confirmation from the European institutions that the unimpeded flow of e-auctions has continued”.
Greek media report that the government must show significant progress by June 15, otherwise, the tranche will be canceled.
Source: Tasos Kokkinidis/greekreporter
