PressTV —At a Thursday meeting in Luxembourg, some 19 Eurozone finance ministers agreed that Greece had taken the necessary reform measures required to unblock the money.
The money will enable Athens to meet two huge debt payments to the European Central Bank (ECB) next month.
Pierre Moscovici, the EU’s senior economic affairs official, said the decision will be a “welcome breath of oxygen for the Greek economy.”
Head of the European Stability Mechanism Klaus Regling also said the Greek government can have access to the money next week.
Last month, the ministers agreed in principle to unblock the money as part of the 86-billion-euro bailout deal signed last year between Greece and its international creditors.
Austerity measures are intended to reduce government debt and bring stability to the nation’s economy but they have failed to improve Greece’s financial situation.
The austerity program has instead compounded Greece’s problems because spending cuts have worsened the crisis of lower aggregate demand.
