Greece on Tuesday confirmed receipt of a loan tranche of €14,5-billion from the European Union under a giant rescue package to enable it to meet an imminent debt deadline.
“The sum of €14,5-billion has been released by the European Commission, via the European Central Bank, to a Greek State account at the Bank of Greece,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
“These funds cover Greece’s immediate and short-term loan requirements and obligations,” the ministry said, adding that 10 eurozone members had contributed with bilateral loans.
The list was headed by German state bank KfW, which provided €4,4-billion, while France gave more than €3,3-billion, with other contributions from Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta.
The full line-up of eurozone countries includes Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Greece needed the money, which is part of a €110-billion bailout loan recently agreed with the EU and the International Monetary Fund, to repay a 10-year government bond worth €9-billion that matures on Wednesday.
The Greek economy is caught in a deepening recession and the government called for the EU-IMF rescue last month after facing prohibitive borrowing costs on the open market.
Investors have doubted for months that the ruling Socialists will be able to enact unpopular austerity measures in the face of general strikes and protests.
Greece is burdened with a debt mountain of nearly €300-billion and last year had a national budget shortfall of more than €30-billion. — AFP