Euro-area finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg will seek to close a key chapter in Greece’s bailout drama on Thursday, unlocking aid needed to end months of uncertainty while stopping short of a definitive deal to ease the country’s debt load.
A resolution at the so-called Eurogroup meeting would free up an expected 8.5 billion euros ($9.5 billion) in cash the Aegean state needs to repay bonds maturing next month. However, the euro-area finance chiefs, including Greece’s Euclid Tsakalotos, likely won’t finalize details on how to give Greece breathing room on the future of its debt obligations, a situation the International Monetary Fund has called unmanageable in the long term.