Eurogroup ministers sign off Greek aid
Ministers this morning signed off the next tranche of aid to Greece, following delays related to a missed conditional policy on labour mobility.
European Commission spokesperson Simon O'Connor tweeted the news:
#EWG green light for #Greece: €2.5bn from EFSF, €1.5bn SMP income to be dibursed subject to completion of national procedures on Monday.
— Simon O'Connor (@ECspokesSimon) July 26, 2013
The national procedures in question are belived to be clearance by the German parliament.
Although Germany postponed the signing off of the aid until Monday to ensure all 22 conditions were met, this seems to have been merely a formality.
But Greek troubles are not over. Greek news agency Kathimerini has reported it has seen documents from lenders saying the country will have to keep its emergency property tax next year if the government can't create a simplified single tax on property by the end of September. A new tax will have to raise €2.7bn next year. There is also a reference to the property transfer tax being scrapped next year, which would result in the government having to find €200m per year in other property taxes to keep revenues stable.
In addition, lenders are looking to sell off a substantial share in Eurobank to a foreign strategic investor by the end of March next year at the latest. The Greek government would need to find an investor by the end of October to provide enough time for due diligence checks.