Greece bailout payment hits a snag

Greece's international bailout programme has hit snags, delaying release of the next payout of rescue money.

Despite a weekend of negotiations by telephone, Greek officials and the country's foreign creditors remained at odds. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, eurozone finance ministers debated whether Athens had met the first set of conditions to unlock the next installment of the bailout of €86 billion (about $92 billion).

The ministers decided to delay the release of the payout, a sum of €2 billion, but indicated it might be dispensed soon. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the eurozone finance ministers, used his Twitter account after the meeting to reinforce pressure on Athens to meet its targets, saying there had been a "commitment of the Greek authorities to fulfill the required measures in the course of the week." Greece is not as desperate for money as it was last summer when the bailout package was negotiated and it received an initial allotment of €13 billion. But the country is eager to secure the new tranche so that it can start addressing domestic problems and ensure that state coffers do not start running low again.

More crucial is that each delay could have a cascading effect, throwing off the schedule for future steps - including talks on giving Greece some relief from its debt burden, which is expected to exceed 180 per cent of gross domestic product this year. Also hanging in the balance is the release of €10 billion in bailout money that has been set aside to replenish Greece's cash-starved banks.

The Greek Parliament has already agreed to a series of economic changes in moves approved last week and in the middle of last month. As the Greek finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, arrived in Brussels on Monday, Greek officials refused to provide details about the deadlock, citing the delicate nature of the negotiations. But one main sticking point is over how much protection against foreclosure to give Greece's many overly indebted holders of home mortgages.

"We're optimistic, we've come closer on several issues, but we're still committed to protecting primary residences," one official said, on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The Greek economy minister, Giorgos Stathakis, who participated in the marathon of negotiations over the weekend, told Greek radio on Monday that Athens was seeking a "political solution" to ensure that thousands of Greeks did not lose their homes.

The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, broached the issue Sunday afternoon in telephone calls with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President François Hollande of France and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Greek homeowners who are having trouble making loan payments are among the problems plaguing the country's banks. But Tsipras argued that protecting Greek families from losing their homes was necessary to ensuring social cohesion in his country, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

The French finance minister, Michel Sapin, said on Monday that Greece should be given some room to maneuver on the foreclosure issue. "Greece is making considerable efforts," Sapin said before the meeting. Resistance to continued austerity in Greece is growing. Farmers, seamen and pharmacists are among those who have staged protests in recent weeks. On Thursday, thousands of Greeks are expected to walk off the job, disrupting public services and transportation, in a general strike. The 24-hour walkout would be the first general strike under the government of Tsipras's leftist Syriza party, which came to power in January was re-elected in September.

On a pledge to enforce the country's third international bailout while trying to soften its harsher aspects.

Tsipras and the other European leaders on Sunday also discussed the region's refugee crisis, which Greece is struggling to contain because of its position at the front line of the influx.

Greek officials have suggested in recent weeks that creditors should ease austerity demands as the government grapples with the refugee problem.

THE GREEK DRAMA

• The debate: Whether Athens had met the first set of conditions to unlock the next installment of the bailout of Euro 86 bn
   
• The status now: Greece not as desperate as last summer but new tranche impotant to start addressing domestic problems
   
• Hanging in ballance: The release of Euro 10 bn in bailout moneyset aside to replenish Greece’s banks

©2015 The New York Times News Service