Eurozone delays decision over Greek €12bn loan

The 17 Eurozone finance ministers debated on the structure of a new three-year bailout for Greece, beyond the initial €110 bn rescued launched in May last year. In addition to more official loans, th enew bailout would include a voluntary rollover by private investors of the Greek debt holdings.

The ministers said they expected the money to be paid by mid-July. Greece has said it needs the loans by then to avoid defaulting on its debt.

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, leader of the finance ministers, said that as long as the Greek parliament supported the new measures, he was certain Greece would get a second bail-out.

On the role of private investors in the new aid program, Juncker said: “Voluntary participation has to be voluntary which means that no pressure whatsoever can be exercised on the private sector and this has to be checked at the beginning of July.

“We agreed that the participation of private creditors has to be voluntary, but Greece also has to deliver.”

The decision to delay is also tied to the political situation in Greece:

“There will be a vote of confidence asked by Prime Minister (Papandreou) on Tuesday evening, which we have to wait for, and then we’ll have to wait for the final vote of the program on which Greece had agreed with its European and international interlocutors," Juncker said. "So this second demand is clear, but as the Parliamentary vote has been fixed for end of June, we have to wait for this vote.”