Eurozone meets on Greece aid

Eurozone finance ministers are set to meet in Brussels later on Monday to discuss the next instalment of bailout money for debt-laden Greece.

Greece is due about 31 billion euros ($40 billion) in bailout loans.

However, eurozone members fundamentally disagree on how to deal with Greece’s vast debt mountain.

It will be the third such meeting in two weeks. Greece was supposed to get the money back in May, and is being kept afloat on emergency loans.

The meeting is aimed at reaching agreement among the 17 eurozone members about creating a plan to return Greece to financial health.

The ministers also need to reach agreement with the International Monetary Fund over how best to keep Greece funded and reduce its debt, which is expected to reach 190% of its gross domestic product next year.

They want to get that rate down to 120 percent in the next eight-to-10 years.

Until they can agree on how best to do that, they are reluctant to release any more loans to the country for fear the support will become permanent.

On Sunday, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said it would be “irresponsible” to fail to reach an agreement this time around “given the efforts everyone has made”.

He said the eurozone was “very close to a solution.”

“I don’t know if there will be an agreement, I know it is possible and I want one.” —Bbc