Greece faces a serious financial crisis but had cleared its overdue debt repayments of €2.05bn (£1.4bn). It gears itself to face the next major deadline of 20 August, when it must pay €3.2bn owed to the ECB, followed by a payment of €1.5bn to the IMF in September. Greece may have to exit from EU if arrears are not cleared.
Several austerity measures are imposed by Greece’s creditors before bailout talks could continue.
So, the parliament in its emergency debate on Wednesday has to approve the financial and judicial reforms failing which the €86-billion bailout from its creditors will slip away. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces opposition from 39 of the Syriza’s 149 MPs – including former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. According to him there are only reactions but no alternate proposals. He urged the MPs ‘must reflect society, must welcome the worries and expectations of tens of thousands of ordinary people who have pinned their hopes on it.‘
The vote is expected to pass with the support of opposition parties. Greece’s public sector union has also called for a protest in the evening.
In the meantime, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s raised the country’s rating by two notches to CCC+ from CCC-.
