Greece's third bailout agreed 'in principle'

The European Commission said today that Greece has reached a technical agreement "in principle" with its international creditors on a third debt bailout.
"What we don't have is a political agreement," said Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt, hours after Athens suggested that the deal was all but done.
Hammered out after marathon talks in Athens stretching into the early hours of Tuesday, the accord comes with financing of 85 billion euros (USD 94 billion), the Greek government said.
Breidthardt said the Economic and Financial Committee, which coordinates EU-wide economic policy, would make a conference call to all 28 member states to enable them "to take stock" of the accord.

Greece and its creditors -- the EU, the European Central Bank, the eurozone bailout fund and the International Monetary Fund -- are hoping to finalise the deal by August 20 when Athens must repay some 3.4 billion euros to the ECB.
Both sides said details remained to be hammered out, but Athens was planning to submit it to parliament later in the day.

The chamber is expected to vote on the accord on Thursday, and eurozone finance ministers could be asked to approve it the next day.
A finance ministry source told AFP that the remaining details "do not affect the main body of the agreement."

The Athens stock market rose 1.39 per cent today after three straight days of gains.
State broadcaster ERT today said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and European Parliament chairman Martin Schultz about the accord.
The marathon negotiations dragged on into the early hours of today, with Athens committing to a primary deficit of 0.25 per cent of output in 2015, and a surplus in 2016, meaning that no new fiscal measures will be necessary until then, the source said.
In 2016 the primary surplus -- the balance not including debt service -- will be 0.5 per cent, followed by 1.75 per cent in 2017 and 3.5 per cent in 2018, the source added.

The government said in a statement that the creditors had agreed to a "mild adjustment" on fiscal targets that will help foster growth and save some 20 billion euros compared with measures promised by the previous conservative-led administration.
It added that Greek banks would immediately receive 10 billion euros from the package, and will be fully recapitalised by the end of the year.