Greece to tap second part of €110bn bailout in September
GREECE will receive the second instalment of a €110bn (£90bn) bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on schedule in September, its finance minister said yesterday.
“Of course [the second payment] is secure,” George Papaconstantinou told reporters during a press briefing.
Greece has promised to ram through deficit-reduction measures totalling €45bn over 2010-2013 to narrow its budget gap by an unprecedented 11 percentage points of GDP.
EU and IMF officials are due in Athens on Monday to start a review of the cash-strapped country’s finances and reforms.
“We will liaise with them and review the budget’s implementation. They will take decisions in August and the payment will be in September,” Papaconstantinou said.
State revenues in the first five months of 2010 rose more than eight per cent year-on-year,
while expenditure was down more than 10 per cent. The deficit in the same period had been slashed by some 40 per cent.
“This reduction exceeds the deficit target, even before a raft of measures have started to take effect,” Papaconstantinou said.