Greece wins significant debt relief
Greece won big breathing space today with long-frozen eurozone loans to restart from December and a first clear admission that a chunk of the country's debt burden will need to be written off down the line.
After 13 hours of talks in Brussels, the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to unlock 43.7 billion euros (USD 56 billion) in loans and on the need to grant
significant debt relief going forward for decades to come.
Greece must still meet a series of agreed conditions but "the decision will certainly reduce the uncertainty and strengthen confidence in Europe and in Greece," said European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who left the talks before a final.
Starved of bailout financing since the summer, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras hailed the deal in Athens, while German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the package would be presented to German lawmakers by the end of the week.
Other member states will also have to obtain their parliament's approval for the deal.
"Everything has gone well," Samaras told reporters in Athens.
"All Greeks have fought (for this decision) and tomorrow is a new day for every Greek person," he added.
Finance ministers, the IMF and the ECB said the money would be paid in four instalments from December 13 through until the end of March, conditional on Greece funneling income back to creditors at source and on the implementation by Athens of tax reforms settled with creditors.
The results of the "laborious" negotiations according to IMF head Christine Lagarde are intended to
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