Greece bailout funds due for payment

Greece is due to receive the latest tranche of bailout funds needed to keep the economy afloat later on Thursday. After weeks of tough talks, eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund agreed last month to release 44 billion euros, according to the (BBC). Greece has been waiting since June for the money that is needed to help the government pay its debts and to support the country’s banks. Ministers also agreed to cut Greece’s debts by 40 billion euros. The release of the funds was dependent on Athens buying back some of its debt from private investors. On Wednesday, the country’s debt management agency said the government had bought back 31.9 billion euros of bonds at 33.8% of their face value. So far, the ECB, IMF and the European Commission have pledged a total of 240 billion euros in rescue loans, of which Greece has received around 150 billion euros. In return, Greece has had to impose several rounds of tough austerity measures, which have contributed to a severe and prolonged economic contraction. According to projections from the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat, by the end of this year the Greek economy will have shrunk by a fifth since the financial crisis began in 2008.