This morning the Fund to save Esm States approved the payment of the first tranche of aid from 26 billion in favor of Greece, of which 13 billion will be transferred today. Most of the funds arriving in the coming hours will be used by Athens to repay maturing debts with the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.
The 13 billion are part of one sub-tranche of 16 billion: the remaining 3 billion will be disbursed by the end of November, after Greece has completed the main agreed reforms.
The second 10 billion sub-tranche, which will be disbursed by the ESM through floating rate bonds, is intended to support potential bank recapitalizations or resolutions. On this second sub-tranche, the body's board of directors still has to give its final approval.
In general, the 26 billion installment is the first of third bailout plan agreed between Athens and creditors, which is worth a total of 86 billion in three years. The aid package was approved in the past few hours by the ESM itself and by a number of national parliaments, including the German one.
"From today Greece can honor its most urgent financial obligations towards the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and meet other budgetary commitments," said Klaus Regling, director of the ESM.
Meanwhile, this morning Greece has repaid the ECB government bonds maturing today for 3,4 billion euros. The bonds had been purchased by Eurotower under the Securities Market Programme.
Furthermore, in the morning, the repayment of the 7,16 billion bridging loan that had been granted by the Eurogroup to allow Athens, last month, to honor a double deadline again towards the ECB and towards the International Monetary Fund also started .
In fact, much of the money from the ESM will never be used to alleviate the crisis in the real Greek economy, as indeed has already happened with the 240 billion allocated in the first two bailouts, of which only 11,7 - according to the calculations of the Macropolis think tank - really remained at the disposal of the Athens government to help the Greeks. Less than 5 percent.
