LUXEMBOURG (AP) – The Latest on the Greek bailout discussions (all times local):
2:05 p.m.
More than 2,000 elderly protesters have marched through central Athens to protest further pension cuts imposed by the government as part of efforts to ensure Greece gets its next installment of rescue loans from European creditors.
The pensioners, some waving walking sticks, voiced outrage Thursday at the constantly diminishing size of their pensions, which many say they can no longer survive on. “We can’t live on 300 euros” they chanted.
The protest came ahead of a meeting in Luxembourg later Thursday of the 19 finance ministers from the European countries that use the euro.
The meeting is set to decide on whether Greece has done enough for the bailout funds to be released and provide more clarity over what sort of debt relief the country can expect when it exits its bailout program next year.
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1:05 p.m.
The eurozone’s top official says Greece will get more clarity about the sort of debt relief it will get when it concludes its third bailout program next year.
However, Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the scale of the debt relief offered to Athens won’t emerge at Thursday’s meeting of the eurozone’s 19 finance ministers.
He said ahead of the meeting of the so-called eurogroup: “Today, we will give more clarity to Greece.”
The International Monetary Fund, which has contributed financially to the first two bailouts but not the third, has wanted more information about what may be on offer to Greece for it to get more involved in the current program.
Dijsselbloem said he hoped the meeting will mark a “major step forward” that builds on “the huge step that Greece put in.”
Euclid Tsakalotos, Greece’s finance minister, said he is “optimistic” about the prospects of a deal later.
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11:30 a.m.
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.
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.