Greece Seeks to Leave the Bailout, but More Reforms Needed First
Greece eyes graduation from its bailout program in less than nine months, but the EU and the IMF recommend less haste, more reform.
On Saturday, December 2nd, Greece’s Minister of Finance Euclid Tsakalotos announced that the country had reached an agreement with the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on disbursement of a EUR 5 billion tranche of its bailout program, conditional on further progress with reforms. Specifically, Greece is supposed to push through two legislative packages encompassing fiscal measures, privatization, energy and labor market reforms, one before Christmas and one in January. All nineteen Eurozone Ministers of Finance gave a green light to the deal early last week, and Greek officials expressed hopes of leaving the current, third bailout program in August 2018 and making it their final one.
Photo: Reuters
