(Newser)
–
European Union finance ministers and the IMF have hammered out yet another deal on Greek debt and they say this one is going to work. The euro and Asian markets rose after the announcement of the latest deal on the three-year-old crisis, which will cut the rates on bailout loans, allow Athens to suspend interest payments for a decade, and give the country more time to repay, Bloomberg reports. The deal will allow the release of $44 billion in bailout funds next month to allow the Greek government to continue functioning.
The deal will cut Greek debt to 124% of GDP by 2020, and ministers signaled for the first time that some loans will need to be written off, Reuters reports. "This has been a very difficult deal," Luxembourg's prime minister told reporters after chairing the 13-hour meeting. "All initiatives decided upon today will bring Greece’s public debt clearly back on a sustainable path." Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the deal would usher in "a new day for all Greeks," though the opposition Syriza party said it wasn't enough to make the country's debt load sustainable.
