Eurozone ministers were set Saturday to release funds to keep Greece from imminent bankruptcy while thrashing out a new bailout to prevent the debt crisis engulfing other nations.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou looks during a vote in parliament on austerity measures. Eurozone ministers were set Saturday to release funds to keep Greece from imminent bankruptcy while thrashing out a new bailout to prevent the debt crisis engulfing other nations.
Eurozone finance ministers were to hold a conference call at 1600 GMT to sign off on a fifth tranche of aid worth 12 billion euros from a 110-billion-euro ($160 billion) bailout granted by the European Union and IMF last year.
Eurozone governments already reached an agreement in principle on Friday after the Greek parliament met EU and IMF demands to pass tough austerity measures despite rioting in the streets of Athens.
The ministers decided to cancel a meeting in Brussels on Sunday and speak by phone instead because nothing is holding up the next tranche, but they need more time to negotiate a second bailout for Greece, diplomats said.
"Since things are moving forward on the fifth tranche, which is good news and a breath of fresh air, and that work on (the new bailout) is not ready for Sunday, we preferred to have a conference call," a European diplomat said.
