Greece bailout News

The IMF is involved in talks on making Greece's debt sustainable to approve the country's latest reforms and make new loans available.

The eurozone 19 ministers are meeting in Brussels just as EU leaders and Turkey hold talks next door to discuss the refugee crisis, in which Greece is also a sensitive focal point.

Greece and its creditors could complete the first review of the country`s latest bailout by Easter, but Athens needs to do more to complete controversial pension reform and other measures, the EU said Thursday.

The International Monetary Fund does not wish to slap "draconian measures" on hard-up Greece but wants more government progress on pension reform, IMF chief Christine Lagarde has said.

Left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras today faces his first test in parliament since a bailout rebellion split his party and triggered a snap general election last month.

Approval of the latest 86 billion euro ($95 billion) emergency rescue plan for Athens is seen as assured given the 504 seats Merkel`s left-right "grand coalition" holds in the 631-seat Bundestag lower house.

Spanish lawmakers were Tuesday to approve Greece`s third international bailout, which Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy decided to put to a vote in parliament ahead of a year-end general election.

"What we don't have is a political agreement," said Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt, hours after Athens suggested that the deal was all but done.

The reports came at the end of a week of fevered speculation over what Syriza hardliners had in mind as an alternative to the tough bailout terms that Tsipras reluctantly accepted to keep Greece in the euro.

Meetings with officials from the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had been expected to begin on Friday, were delayed by logistical issues, including the location of talks and security.

Meetings with officials from the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had been expected to begin on Friday, were delayed by logistical issues, including the location of talks and security.

German lawmakers gave Chancellor Angela Merkel the green light Friday to resume talks on a new EU-IMF bailout deal for Greece, after she passionately argued it was the last chance to prevent "chaos" in the crisis-hit country.

Eurozone ministers approved the launch of Greece bailout talks and the ECB boosted its cash lifeline to the crisis-hit country Thursday after lawmakers in Athens grudgingly passed a tough reform package demanded by creditors.

The increase corresponded to the amount requested by the Bank of Greece, Draghi said. 

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won the backing of parliament in the early hours of Thursday for the stringent reform measures demanded by the creditors led by Germany, but was left weakened by a revolt in his left-wing Syriza party.

The vote, vital to unlocking emergency financing from European partners as early as Thursday, left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras weakened by a revolt in his leftist Syriza party but clinging to power for now.

The vote will almost certainly see large numbers of Syriza lawmakers dissent and vote against the package, raising questions of the government's survival in its current form.

Greece on Wednesday geared up for a parliamentary vote on draconian reforms demanded by eurozone creditors in exchange for a huge new bailout, in what could be Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's toughest political test yet.

NATO on Monday welcomed a bailout deal reached between its "staunch ally" Greece and EU leaders, saying the nation`s economic stability was also vital for the "security" of other NATO countries.

The moves were mild, with investors wary of over reacting after having seen so many deadlines come and go with no resolution of the crisis in Greece.