–Says ECB Experts Will Go To Athens Monday For Meeting
BRUSSELS (MNI) – European Central Bank experts will be in Athens on
Monday for talks with the European Commission, the International
Monetary Fund and the Greek authorities intended to clarify how an
emergency aid mechanism would work, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet
said on Friday.
“I confirm…the ECB stands ready permanently to be in liaison…
to participate in the discussions,” Trichet told reporters at a press
conference in Madrid after a meeting of the Eurogroup here Friday.
“We will be in Athens on Monday, at the level of expert, to follow
very, very carefully the negotiations that have started in Europe,”
Trichet said.
Heavily-indebted Greece has been offered a loan package worth up to
E45 billion from Eurozone finance ministers and the International
Monetary Fund. It hasn’t yet said it will take the loans but has
requested the meeting Monday to clarify the terms of the package, a move
that has been widely interpreted as a first step on the path to
activating the package.
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$FX$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]
