Barroso, Rompuy promise aid for development

Barroso and Rompuy expressed their satisfaction to the European Parliament regarding the progress of Greece and their belief that our country will succeed.

EC president Herman Van Rompuy welcomed Greece’s progress and announced that the Eurozone countries and the IMF will provide 130 billion euros to enable Greece to cover 70% of its obligations to the banks.
 
He also said that the commission should help Greece technically to enter the path of development.
 
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso expressed confidence that Greece will be able to make the necessary and agreed reforms to get on the development track.

He confirmed that there is close cooperation between the European Commission and the Greek prime minister and his team, in order for Greece to proceed immediately to facilitating investments, the provision of liquidity to SMEs and the creation of new jobs.

"We are in discussions with the European Investment Bank to see under what conditions it can contribute to Greece's investment program", Barroso said.

Lastly, he said that in late April the European Commission and Olli Rehn will publish a report outlining Greece's  progress.

Schäuble: progress in the Greek problem

Approaching today's Ecofin meeting, Finance minister of Germany Wolfgang Schäuble said there was progress in the Greek problem at Monday’s Eurogroup. "We saw the private sector accepting the exchange of bonds at a greater percentage than what we expected. For this reason, according to the Troika, there is a possibility that the debt level of Greece will be slightly lower in 2020."

Referring to the issue of tax on financial transactions, he said that today's Ecofin meeting will consider whether it is justified to exempt the sale of financial products and services from the tax on sales of other goods and services. "I believe that probably it is unjustified, but of course there are many arguments for and against it," he added.