EU officials have announced that the bridge financing has been sent to Athens today, following several days of work by Brussels officials.
However, Greece won't have time to enjoy it, as the money is already being spent to address Greece’s latest debt demands.
As officials confirmed, the process of repaying $4.2bn to the European Central Bank today has begun. That means Greece will avoid defaulting on its obligations to the ECB, which would have had very serious consequences.
Greece should also clear its arrears to the International Monetary Fund,
by sending €2.05bn over to Washington - a sum which will cover the €1.6bn
repayments due in June missed as Greece staggered out of its
previous bailout, and a second payment due last week.
In a nutshell, Greece’s creditors have loaned it more money, so it can repay its creditors.
As withdrawal limits and restrictions on transfers remain in place,
people in Athens lined up at banks for basic services such as payment
orders and check deposits.
Greece is seeing the first signs of stabilization, but ahead lie further talks on the aid program. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said any debt relief has to wait until Greece meets the terms of the first round of the new bailout.
“When the first successful assessment of the program being negotiated now is completed, exactly this question will be discussed,” Merkel said Sunday in an interview on German television. “Not now, but then.”
