EUROZONE-GREECE/TSIPRAS RETURNS Greek PM races back to Athens to sell tough bailout conditions

Record ID: 147270

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/TSIPRAS RETURNS Greek PM races back to Athens to sell tough bailout conditions
  • Date: 13th July 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JULY 13, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE DOOR EUROPEAN UNION AND GREEK FLAGS MORE OF FLAGS GREEK PRIME MINISTER ALEXIS TSIPRAS COMING OUT OF CAR AND WALKING IN TO OFFICE MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES
  • Embargoed: 28th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8M5TRSCQFBUL3RIMQMIYI5EG1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras returned from marathon negotiations in Brussels to Athens on Monday (July 13) after surrendering much of Greece's sovereignty to outside supervision in return for agreeing to talks on a bailout meant to save the country from bankruptcy.
    The terms imposed by international lenders for Greece to access 86 billion euros has forced the leftist Tsipras to abandon promises of ending austerity and could fracture his government and cause an outcry in Greece.
    If the summit had failed, Greece would have been staring into an economic abyss with its shuttered banks on the brink of collapse and the prospect of having to print a parallel currency and exit the European monetary union.
    Tsipras now needs to meet a tight timetable for enacting unpopular reforms of value added tax, pensions and budget cuts.
    The prime minister accepted a compromise on German-led demands for the sequestration of Greek state assets worth 50 billion euros - including recapitalised banks - in a trust fund beyond government reach, to be sold off primarily to pay down debt. In a gesture to Greece, some 12.5 billion euros of the proceeds would go to investment in Greece, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
    The Greek leader had to drop his opposition to a full role for the International Monetary Fund in the next bailout, which Merkel had insisted on to win parliamentary backing in Berlin.
    In a sign of how hard it may be for Tsipras to convince his own Syriza party to accept the deal, Labour Minister Panos Skourletis said the terms were unviable and would lead to new elections this year.
    Six sweeping measures including spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reforms must be enacted by Wednesday (July 15) night and the entire package endorsed by parliament before talks can start, the leaders decided.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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