After round-the-clock negotiations, Greece's government said Tuesday that it has struck a third bailout deal with its international creditors.
The deal, reached in principal, would give the debt-ridden country loans of 86 billion euros (or about $94 billion) over three years, and would enable the debt-ridden country to make a major debt repayment later this month.
The accord also calls for what is essentially a complete overhaul of Greece's economic system.
A few minor details remain to be worked out, and the deal still needs political approval in Greece and some other eurozone countries. Athens hopes the Greek parliament will approve the deal ahead of an expected meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Friday, so that it can make a 3 billion-plus euro payment to the European Central Bank by the Aug. 20 deadline.
NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens:
"Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos told reporters this morning that only one or two minor details remained to be worked out today with European and International Monetary Fund lenders."But his office said the deal's main tenets — which include financial restructuring that will essentially rebuild the entire Greek economy — have already been agreed to. "The economy has lost a quarter of its GDP in the last five years, and is expected to contract at least 2 percent this year."
In Germany, the Eurozone's principal lender, the deal was welcomed as a step in the right direction. But as Esme Nicholson reports for NPR from Berlin, the tone there has been marked by caution:
"Deputy German Finance Minster Jens Spahn said today that the deal is about the next three years, not just about next week's debt repayment, stressing that it needs to be negotiated thoroughly. "It's likely the German Bundestag will vote on the bailout early next week, but last month almost a fifth of Chancellor Merkel's conservative block voted 'no,' a sign of increased misgivings in Berlin."
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