ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 13 (UPI) — The Greek legislature will vote late Thursday on a bill to approve the European Union’s $93 billion bailout package.
The funding, 85 billion Euros, is required if Greece is to repay a 32.3 billion Euro ($3.5 billion) debt to the European Central Bank, due Aug. 20, and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he expects quick approval of the EU loan, the third bailout in five years. Assuming passage of the bill, finance ministers of the 19 Eurozone countries, as well as their parliaments, are expected to approve the loan as well.
Greece and its lenders agreed to the bailout Tuesday.
The bailout comes with strict austerity measures for a country which has endured five years of recession and economic turmoil, and precisely what Tsipras’ Syriza Party promised would not occur when it came to power earlier this year. Since then, to counter the crisis, banks were closed for three weeks, the Athens stock exchange closed for a month and bank customers had severe limitations put on withdrawals.
The 29-page memorandum of understanding encompassing the bailout demands that Greece privatize its ports, airports and power grid by October, among other measures.
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