Greece secured next bailout tranche: €6.8bn in sub-tranches

The finance ministers of Eurogroup and Greece’s international lenders approved on Monday evening the next bailout tranche for the debt-ridden country. A total of 6.8 billion euro are to come to Greece in three aub-tranches and be immediately forwarded to anybody else except the average Greek. The money will only make a quick pass through Greece so that it will be credited and have the Greeks pay back.

The bailout tranche approval is accompanied with many ‘structural reforms’ demands including the firing of civil servants, additional tax hikes and new cut sin the health care sector.

The first tranche – €4 billion – will arrive in July provided the Greek government has submitted and had approved by the Parliament the new mammoth multi-bill. The bill includes provisions for everything that walks, flies or swims in, over and around Greece.

Mammoth multi-bill to get the 1st tranche:

– labor reserve, transfer and lay-offs for civil servants (4,000 until end of July)

-abolition of municipality police

-new taxation system (Nr 178 or 179 if I’m not wrong)

-luxury tax

-regulations for National Health Care system (EOPYY, ‘claw back’ regulations), for the insurance fund of self-employed (OAEE contributions changes),  outstanding debts of public administration to water companies,  access of tax authorities to bank accounts, ‘closed professions’ issue etc ect . You can read all here in Greek though but manageable with automatic translation)

The second tranche – € 1.8 billion – will arrive in August.

The last sub-tranche – € 1 billion – will arrive in October and will be accompanied with additional austerity measures worth one billion euro.

Until the end of the year Greece has to put 12,500 civil servants on labor reserve. Municipality workers and policemen, teachers and employees at various ministries will be sent home with 75% of their salary for a period of 6 to 9 months. If they cannot be assigned to a new work place in the public sector within this period of time, they will be dismissed.

Greece’s lenders IMF, EU and ECB agreed to turn on the green light for the bailout tranche after realizing that the country’s finances are improving even though the needed “structural reforms” to trim down the state apparatus are too slow. The outlook for Greek economy remains uncertain.

Famous quotes from Eurogroup on Monday:

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble: “Greece is getting on track. It’s not easy for them.”

EU΄s monetary affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn: “In short, it is time to step up the momentum of reform in Greece, support the return of confidence for the sake of sustainable growth and job creation.”

Eurogroup head & Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem: “Firing civil servants is always difficult, that is difficult in every country, certainly in such economic circumstances.”

The Troika: Greece’s reform program remained “broadly in line” with projections. It also laid out the hope of a gradual return to growth next year. The government has also “committed to take steps to bring public administration reforms back on track,” including reducing the number of civil servants, one of the measures that has been among the most contentious in Greece΄s reform program.  (capital.gr)

As now everything seems to be under control and the money is secured, KTG considers moving with a tent, a gas cooker, a camping gas and a sun umbrella to a nice clean beach. KTG could return to Athens in September when the most of the money has arrived and be spent.

Potoki beach in Pilio – no bad, eh?

PS Just wondering nice clean beaches have free Wi-Fi access.