JUST one month ago Greece was on the verge of leaving the euro. Germany had raised the prospect of a “time out” lasting at least five years, following a breakdown in trust between euro-zone countries and the Greek government. Even when an acrimonious weekend summit in Brussels ended on July 13th with a tentative plan for a third bail-out, providing up to €86 billion ($96 billion) over three years in return for further austerity and reforms, there was widespread pessimism about whether a more detailed agreement could really be reached. Yet on August 11th the Greek government settled the specific conditions of the rescue with the four institutions representing the interests of creditors: the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), the IMF and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a rescue fund for the euro zone.
The new proposals were due to be passed into law by the Greek parliament on August 13th, after The Economist had gone to press. The hope among Greek officials was that euro-zone finance ministers would endorse the deal the following day. That could in turn pave the way for a release of funds from the ESM...
from The Economist: Finance and economics http://ift.tt/1DPZVGe
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