Greece hoping to finally secure long-term debt relief deal
LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Greece is hoping to secure more bailout funds to meet a summer debt repayment hump as well as a debt relief deal at a meeting of finance ministers from the 19-country eurozone.
The country, which has been promised help on its mountain of debt once its bailout ends next year, is again the main topic of discussion at a meeting of the so-called eurogroup Thursday.
The main obstacle to an agreement is a difference of opinion between the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund over Greece's long-term debt outlook.
Dutch Finance Minister and head of the eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem arrives for a meeting at the office of the European Stability Mechanism in Luxembourg on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Eurogroup finance ministers meet later on Thursday to review the bailout program for Greece. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
The expectation is Greece will get the roughly 7 billion euros ($7.8 billion) due, but will struggle to clinch the outlines of a debt relief deal that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras thinks is crucial for the country's economy in the long-term.