ECB raises emergency funding cap to Greek banks to 68.3 bln euros - source
Source: Reuters
The European Central Bank agreed on Wednesday to raise the emergency funding available to Greek banks to 68.3 billion euros ($78 billion), a slight increase on the previous limit, a person familiar with the ECB talks said.
The rise in the provision of Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA), over which the ECB has control, is critical for Greece's banks, and gives Athens some leeway while it tries to negotiate a financing deal with European partners.
The ECB had already raised the ELA available to Greek banks by 5 billion euros to about 65 billion last Thursday. The new cap is roughly 3.3 billion euros higher.
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With Wednesday's further modest increase, the ECB is keeping Greece's banks -- and thereby the government in Athens -- on a tight leash.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/18/eurozone-greece-ecb-funding-idUSL5N0VS4WU20150218
Also:
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Wednesday he believed euro zone finance ministers would approve an Athens government proposal on extending the country's loan agreement later this week.
Varoufakis told reporters that he believed the proposal would gain acceptance including from Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem in a conference call of the ministers on Friday.
A Greek request for a loan extension will first be considered by euro zone officials in a working group on Thursday.
"The application will be written in such a way so that it will satisfy both the Greek side and the president of the Eurogroup," he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/18/us-eurozone-greece-varoufakis-idUSKBN0LM1Z620150218
Greece's leftist-led government said it will submit a request to the euro zone on Thursday to extend a "loan agreement" for up to six months, raising prospects of a last-minute deal to keep the heavily indebted country afloat.
While European officials worked frantically with Athens to find a formula, EU paymaster Germany said no such deal was on offer and led the chorus of partners demanding that Athens must stick to the terms of its existing international bailout.
The move, confirmed by an Athens official, is an attempt by the new leftist-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to keep a financial lifeline for an interim period while sidestepping tough austerity conditions in the EU/IMF program.
Whether finance ministers of the 19-nation currency bloc, who rejected such ideas at a meeting on Monday, accept the request as a basis to resume negotiations will depend on how it is formulated, an EU source said. The wording has to match EU legal texts to win approval in several euro zone parliaments.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/18/us-eurozone-greece-idUSKBN0LM0PO20150218
