European Stability Mechanism

The Economist Events is holding its 16th Cyprus Summit on Tuesday, titled "Europe: Putting Solidarity to the Test - Cyprus: In Need of a New Growth Model?"

Eurozone finance ministers will start on Thursday a month-long process of choosing their next chairman to replace Portugal's Mario Centeno who will step down in July, with ministers from Spain, Luxembourg and Ireland among possible candidates.

Greece has no need to tap the eurozone's pandemic credit line at present, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Friday.

"Based on current data, Greece does not need to resort to the ESM's (European Stability Mechanism) credit lines since the government has made and continues to make prudent use of the country's own resources," he told an Economist conference.

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras on Monday stressed the need to seek and activate instruments such as a bad bank, as the so-called Hercules Asset Protection Scheme (HAPS) is considered insufficient, while he also recommended taking recourse to the credit line of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Greece's central banker said on Monday he will advise the government to make use of the cheap, long-term credit lines that will be made available by the Pandemic Crisis Support fund of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Cyprus is the first country in the eurozone to announce that it plans to make use of the cheap, long-term credit lines that will be made available by the Pandemic Crisis Support fund of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

During Friday's Eurogroup teleconference, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras is determined to press for swift decisions and efficient procedures so that support programs are immediately implemented in the eurozone.

Greece's debt is "going up" but is "manageable" coming out of the double debt and health crisis because its annual servicing cost is much lower than in many other countries, the head of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling, said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Following Friday's agreement by eurozone finance ministers, Greece stands to receive low-interest loans from the emergency credit line of the European Stability Mechanism without any of the heavy conditions it had to meet in the 2010s.

Eurozone governments gave their final approval on Friday to the first part of a 540 billion-euro rescue plan for states hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, although other elements of the rescue package have yet to be agreed on.