Greek parliament must approve all the prior actions set by creditors by August 6

Baku. 21 July. REPORT.AZ/ Greece’s creditors plan to wrap up talks on the terms attached to the country’s new bailout by August 6 and disburse the first tranche by August 17, an international official with knowledge of the matter said.

Officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are working on a new Memorandum of Understanding, setting out the conditions for the emergency loans for the next three years, the person said, asking not to be named, as the schedule for the weeks ahead is tentative and depends on the progress achieved in negotiations between the two sides.

On Monday, Greece reopened its banks and used loans from the European Union’s crisis fund to clear its arrears to the IMF as the cash-strapped nation claws its way back to normality after coming close to economic collapse.

The timing for the approval of a package worth 86 billion euros ($94 billion) is delicate. According to the official, national parliaments that have to approve the bailout need to do so by August 13 so that a disbursement can take place in time for a bond redemption of about 3.2 billion euros for notes held by the ECB. On Monday, Greece paid the ECB punctually about 4.2 billion euros in maturing debt and interest.

To release aid before that ECB payment comes due, the Greek parliament must approve all the prior actions set by creditors by August 7, the official said. After that, the Euro Working Group of technical staff as well as finance ministers from the currency bloc are scheduled to sign off on the package by August 11, according to the official.