Euro zone finance ministers agree on 8.5 billion euro loan to Greece, official says

Francois Lenoir | Reuters

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos attends a eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium May 22, 2017.

Greece’s European creditors agreed to give the cash-strapped country the next batch of money due from its bailout and outlined a series of debt relief measures they hope will foster growth.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the eurozone’s top official, said Greece has been cleared to get 8.5 billion euros, which will allow it to meet a big repayment hump this July.

He also said the International Monetary Fund was ready to provide more financial assistance to Greece via a stand-by arrangement and that Greece would get help with its debt payments in the future.

Some debt repayments could be delayed by 15 years. In addition, he said Greece’s growth levels could be taken into account in its repayments.

Dijsselbloem said Thursday at the conclusion of the meeting of the eurozone’s 19 finance ministers that an agreement was forged “on all elements.”