MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The new bailout money for Greece will not be released, because Greece has implemented only two of 15 political reforms previously agreed with the international creditors, the Handelsblatt newspaper said Sunday with reference to EU diplomats.
Athens signed a deal with its creditors including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and Eurozone nations in 2015 for a third bailout package worth about 86 billion euros ($96 billion) in exchange for highly unpopular austerity reforms such as pension cuts, tax hikes and the privatization of public assets.
Greece was particularly hard hit by the 2008-2009 economic crisis, and was offered massive bailout programs from its international lenders. The economic recession, exacerbated by the mismanagement of previous Greek governments, has resulted in Athens being saddled with a multibillion-dollar debt.
