The European Stability Mechanism (ESM)

The Bank of Greece is reportedly creating a special reserve account where funds will be deposited exclusively for the repayment of the country's debts.

The relevant decision, signed by the Deputy Minister of Finance Giorgos Houliarakis, was published in the Government Gazette.

In order for Europe to address the current governance issue and convince citizens that it works in their interest it should turn to a left-wing progressive federalist model, Nikos Pappas told EURACTIV.com in an interview.

Nikos Pappas is a leftist politician and minister for digital policy, media and telecommunications in Alexis Tsipras’ government.

Greece’s imminent return to markets will be a step towards a successful exit from its euro zone-funded bailout program, but it will not be an overnight change.

The process, European Union officials say, will require a series of successful bond sales and the build-up of a “sizeable” cash buffer.

Bolstered by its third bailout programme and positive reports from the European Union, Greece is planning an imminent test of the bond market, local media said this weekend.

Greece is eyeing “the current positive trend” in the market, where liquidity levels are high and there is a taste for risk-taking, the conservative Kathimerini newspaper said.

Greece is expected to return to the bond markets in 2018, but having secured its third bailout program Athens may test the waters by issuing a new bond as early as July 17.     

Greek newspapers have been speculating that a bond market test could come in "a matter of days."

The European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici stated that the Greek people had made enormous sacrifices which should not be lost. “This is a particularly symbolic moment for Greece. After so many years of sacrifices for the Greek people, the country finally reaps the fruit of its efforts”, he said.

The official statement:

Greece should use the time before the end of its adjustment program to think about how to return to the markets, the managing director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling said after the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) disbursed the € 7.7 billion tranche to Greece, Monday. The amount was deposited in the Bank of Greece’s (BoG) special treasury account. € 6.9 billion will be used to service the country’s debt, with the remaining 800 million going to overdue public debts to the private sector.

Now that Greece is on a slightly more certain footing following the June 15 agreement between the government and its creditors at Luxembourg's Eurogroup meeting, as well as the decision last Friday by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to disburse the next bailout tranche of 7.7 billion euros, perhaps we can we start to look for signs of a recovery.

The European Stability Mechanism ESM) board of directors announced the approval of the third installment of the Greek bailout programme, amounting to € 8.5 billion, via its Twitter account. “#ESM Board of Directors approves €8.5 billion loan tranche to #Greece”, read the post. The announcement was posted on the body’s official site: