Eurogroup leader: Bailout plan will 'get Greece back on track'
After more than 15 hours of talks, Eurozone leaders reached a unanimous agreement over a bailout deal for Greece.
European Council President Donald Tusk first tweeted the news out Monday morning. During a press conference in Brussels, Eurogroup leader Jereon Dijsselbloem said that "trust was a very key issue. We looked at reforms, debts, financial needs. We were able to agree on all these issues to get Greece back on track. The Greek parliament will legislate very quickly on a number of issues, which will help bring trust to member states." He said that assets will be transferred to a fund based in Athens, which will "monetize them by privatization or running them" and will be used to help "recapitalize banks." Once the €25 billion needed for recapitalization is repaid, the funds left over will be "used to bring down debt by 50 percent and the other 50 percent for the Greek government to reinvest into Greece."
European Commissioner head Jean-Claude Jencker said he is "convinced the Greek government will be able to pass through the decision made today." For formal negotiations to begin, the parliament has to approve the deal, and six other EU parliaments have to do the same. In order for Greece to make debt repayments over the summer, talks on bridge financing will start soon, Dijsselbloem said.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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