Greek Bailout Review Needs Months, Not Weeks, Dijsselbloem Says
- Successful completion would pave the way for debt relief talks
- Greece needs to overhaul pension system to meet conditions
This article is for subscribers only.
The first significant review of Greece’s latest bailout program, which is likely to trigger talks on debt relief for the stricken euro-area nation, will probably take months to complete, said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who leads the bloc’s group of finance ministers.
Only when Greece has satisfactorily implemented a series of contentious reforms, most notably changes to the country’s pension system, can the euro area contemplate moves to ease its debt burden, Djisselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, told reporters in Amsterdam on Thursday. The review’s completion should also unlock the next installment of Greece’s loan arrangement agreed last year.