- Donald Tusk, President of the European Union
After more than 17-hour long summit and sleepless night in Brussels, European leaders have unanimously reached a third bailout deal for Greece on Monday. The debt-stricken country will get a new loan programme worth up to 86 billion euros from the European Stability Mechanism. The agreement included a 50 billion euro Greece-based fund that will privatise or manage Greek assets. Out of that amount, 25 billion euros would be used to recapitalise Greek banks, which have been closed for two weeks, with withdrawals at cash machines limited to 60 euros per day. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup, said that talks would continue in the week over the details of the bailout. Meanwhile, parliaments in several Euro zone states have to approve a new bailout.
After trust was severely damaged between Greece and its creditors, Greece was demanded to pass reforms demanded by the Euro zone by Wednesday. Other reforms that Greece has to pass include an overhaul of Greece's pension system and widespread sales tax hikes that could face opposition in the Greek parliament. Successful passage, however, would not a guarantee that the country would be saved. It would merely open the door to a final agreement later this week for a three-year bailout – Greece's third in five years.
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