Eurozone Provides Greek Banks With Further 7.2 Bn Euros

The EU has given Greece another aid instalment, worth 7.2 billion euros, to help recapitalise its stricken banks as part of the country’s massive bailout programme, officials said Friday.

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the eurozone’s initial debt rescue mechanism, made the payment to help enable the banks to play their role in the getting the country back on its feet.

“The funds … should help to create a healthy and functioning financial sector, which is a precondition for the recovery of the Greek economy,” EFSF head Klaus Regling said in a statement.

It said Greece has so far received 48.2 billion euros of the 50 billion euros committed by the EFSF for the recapitalisation of its banking sector.

The EFSF’s total commitment for financial assistance to Greece is 144.6 billion euros, with 127.2 billion euros already disbursed, the statement said.

Stuck in a sixth year of recession, Greece has begun to show tentative signs that its economy may be finally stabilised after a first EU and International Monetary Fund bailout in 2010 was followed by another last year.

The two EU-IMF bailouts came to 240 billion euros ($309 billion) while more than 100 billion euros was also saved in a radical private-sector debt write-off.

Ahram