Eurogroup agrees 8.5-bln-euro bailout distribution to Greece

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Greece's worldwide lenders prepared on Thursday to unblock as much as 8.5 billion euros (7.44 billion pounds) in loans that Athens desperately needs next month to pay its bills, and to give some idea of what debt relief they may offer over the long-term.

"I remain confident that we will find an agreement today on the payment of the latest tranche of Greece's bailout", Schäuble said as he arrived for talks in Luxembourg to discuss the delayed Greek bailout with his eurozone counterparts.

Greek finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos said the agreement would allow market access "in due course". "With unity and determination we move forward [to achieve] fair growth and heal the wounds of the crisis", Tsipras said in a tweet after midnight.

But the International Monetary Fund says euro zone's assumptions on Greek economic growth and the country's ability to keep a high primary surplus are unrealistic and that Athens clearly needs debt relief to win back investor confidence and return to market financing.

Mr Dijsselbloem says the exit strategy will "enable Greece to stand on its own feet again next year".

Given that the Greek government has delivered on a wide array of economic reforms that were required for the payout of the next installment of rescue loans, there appears to be little doubt that the country will be cleared to get its next batch of bailout funds.

It needs the money to meet roughly seven billion euro (£6.1 billion) in debt repayments in July that it will struggle to meet from its own resources.

"We'll get there on Thursday, you'll see", German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, the eurozone's most influential official, said at a Bloomberg event on Tuesday in berlin.

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Bailey was spotted Friday in the Capitol, on crutches and out of uniform, accepting congratulations from fellow officers. FILE - In this March 8, 2017 file photo, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.

A proposal by the French government under new President Emmanuel Macron to help bridge differences on debt relief will underpin further euro zone discussions, officials said.

Debt relief has been a hard sell in Germany, the biggest contributor to Greek bailouts over the years, though it is also unpopular in other countries, notably in poor Eastern Europe, where Greek welfare support seems generous to many.

"I've always said that the (bailout) program walks on two legs: the leg of policies and the leg of debt sustainability", Lagarde told CNBC on Thursday.

Tsipras said the answer to Greece's unsustainable debt mountain was sustainable and "socially just" growth, adding: "So that this is possible, a debt restructuring is necessary so that the Greek economy can breathe and regain markets' trust".

But as part of the compromise with Greece, eurozone ministers agreed to provide debt relief when the current bailout program ends next year.

But ministers said that while Greece would get more "clarity" on a long-desired agreement on cutting its mountain of debt, there could be no actual deal on that subject until later.

The Greek government, whose popularity has fallen sharply as it imposed more austerity measures, faced more criticism Thursday when more than 2,000 elderly protesters marched through central Athens to demonstrate against pension cuts.

"We can't live on 300 euros!" they chanted, with some waving sticks.

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