Athens rewarded for progress

The European Commission gave Athens some much needed fiscal leeway on Wednesday, as in its sixth enhanced surveillance report on Greece it recommended the disbursement of the earnings of eurozone central banks from Greek bond holdings.

The report paves the way for the payment of some 748 million euros from the SMPs and ANFAs, European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told a press conference on Wednesday. However, the report adds that the Greek authorities have agreed that these funds will be disbursed now to cover the country's funding needs and it will be examined in the fall whether any future revenues will be utilized for public investments.

Brussels praised Greece's response to the coronavirus, noting that the government adjusted policy priorities in a responsible manner, mobilizing significant sums of income support and liquidity supply measures, while...