Following Sunday evening’s vote in the Greek Parliament, the Euro Working Group is expected to confirm the successful conclusion of the first bailout program review. Monday’s EWG meeting will thus pave the way for the Eurozone Finance Ministers to approve the dispensation of up to 11 billion euros in aid towards Greece at Tuesday’s Eurogroup meeting.
The Greek government is also looking forward to the European Central Bank of lifting its waiver on Greek bonds, so that they may once again be accepted as collateral. This decision, which is expected to take place at the next ECB board meeting in early June, will provide cheap funding for Greek banks.
Later on, after the Greek government pays back a 2.8 billion euro loan towards the ECB, Greece may be included in the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing program. There is some uncertainty over the debt relief talks, since the International Monetary Fund and Europe (primarily Germany) have differing opinions on the major issue.
One compromise solution rumored is for the European Stability Mechanism to pay off Greece’s debt towards the IMF, thus limiting the Fund’s exposure in Greece. This will in turn reduce the cost of debt payments for Greece, since the ESM interest rates are much lower than those of the IMF.
