The “green light” for the release of the last tranche of the measures to alleviate the Greek debt, amounting to 644 million euros, was officially given by the Eurogroup, as the 19 finance ministers of the Eurozone (including Croatia will become the 20th member on January 1, 2023) adopted the European Commission’s recommendation, following the Commission’s first report on the Greek economy after the exit from the enhanced post-memorandum supervision.
The Eurogroup releases funds amounting to 644 million euros, which come from the profits of the Greek government bonds withheld by the European central banks (SMPs, ANFAs).
The said disbursement of this amount has been pending since July 2019 and the Eurozone Finance Ministers decided that despite the unprecedented conditions created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the decisions of Russian President Putin’s regime, Greece has implement all its commitments.
The Eurogroup also discussed the zeroing, for the 2nd half of 2022, of the additional margin (step-up margin), the integration of which is foreseen in the loan rate granted by the EFSF to Greece, and – for the first time – the permanent reduction of this margin at a zero value for the period 2023 – 2049.
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The specific decision of the Eurogroup is a milestone for the Greek economy, as Greece is no longer under enhanced supervision, but, on the contrary, is evaluated like almost all member states of the European Union.
Nonetheless, Greece, like all the other countries (Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland) that came out of the EU support programs, will continue to be “closely monitored” by the European institutions, since as defined by the EU “six pack” rules (five regulations and one directive) and “two pack” (two directives) the member states that received European aid will be controlled “until the repayment of 75% of the financial aid received”.
