The European Central Bank is unwilling to raise Greece’s Treasury bill issuance ceiling from the current 15 billion euros to a 25 billion euros, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The financial newspaper cites two European officers involved in the discussion, who argue that the ECB is planning to reject the Greek government’s plans for indirect funding via treasury bills, which would allow the Greek economy to carry on when the current bailout program ends in February.
According to the report in the Financial Times the Greek plan is entirely based on the European Central Bank, however the ECB is going to adopt a hard stance against Greece. Without funding from Treasury bills, Greece will not have access to emergency funding, after the current program ends.
Nevertheless, the Financial Times note that the Greek request must be put forward to the Eurogroup for consideration, where all Eurozone members and the ECB will have a vote. With this additional 10 billion euros, the Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis wants to secure the country’s funding needs as part of a “bridge agreement” between March and June 2015, after which point a new recovery program would come into effect.
