European Union agrees bailout package for Greece
The European Union is tonight on the verge of announcing a bailout package which has been agreed between EU members and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This comes after weeks and weeks of speculation regarding the Greek economy and the fact that it had the potential to drag down the Eurozone as a whole. It would appear that initial German and French resistance to a bailout has been dispelled by bringing in the IMF to help with the bailout.
In simple terms, the Greek authorities will be given access to emergency funding facilities to see them through a period of significant reduction in public sector spending and a realignment of the country's tax bands. While news of the agreement has been leaked to the press we still await an official European Union press conference to clarify the terms of the funding arrangement.
There is no way that the European Union could allow the Greek authorities to carry on for much longer as the country was literally running out of money to cover vital public sector services. While we have seen a small knock-on effect to countries such as Portugal and Ireland, if the rumoured agreement is pushed through then this should allay the fears of many investors.
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