BRUSSELS, - The Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem announced late Monday that finance ministers of the eurozone had approved two bailout tranches of 7.5 billion euros (about 9.7 U.S. dollars) for Greece.The first part of the bailout tranche, 4.2 billion euros, will be approved in the next days and then disbursed by the European Financial Stability Facility, Dijsselbloem said at a press conference.
The rest of the money, amounting to 3.3 billion euros, is expected to be unleased in June, depending on the progress of the Greek economic recovery program, Dijsselbloem told reporters after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
The decision was taken after the Eurogroup noted "with satisfaction" in a written statement after the meeting that "Greece has made further substantial progress in implementing the fiscal and structural reforms foreseen in the agreed policy conditionality."
In the statement, the Eurogroup "commends the authorities for their continued strong commitment to the adjustment programme and reiterates its appreciation for the efforts made by the Greek citizens."
The Eurogroup also concluded that "Greece is quickly regaining cost competitiveness," while urging product and services market reforms to accelerate to allow gains in cost competitiveness to "translate more rapidly into prices."
