Greece’s political leaders ended weeks of market-rattling brinkmanship yesterday by agreeing to €3.3bn in budget cuts that they hoped would clear the way for a second multibillion-euro bail-out to avert a default on the country’s sovereign debt.
No sooner was the deal sealed in Athens than a potentially more fractious debate began in Brussels, where eurozone finance ministers worked late to structure a bail-out package that would reduce Greece’s debt to 120 per cent of economic output by 2020.
Hopes for an agreement were raised by Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president, who indicated he was willing to forgo profits on the bank’s €40bn in Greek bonds, a move that could wipe up to €15bn from Athens’ €350bn debt load.