BERLIN (MNI) – The budget committee of the German Bundestag, the
lower house of parliament, on Wednesday approved the payment of the next
tranche of fiscal aid to Greece.

The approval of the budget committee empowers German Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to vote for the payment at tomorrow’s
Eurogroup meeting in Brussels.

In a Finance Ministry paper prepared for the budget committee
meeting, the German government endorsed paying the next tranche of
fiscal aid to Greece. The document lauds Athens for implementation of
reforms required of it and for its recently conducted debt-buyback.

“Against the backdrop of the program changes, the status of the
program implementation, the successfully executed debt buy-back and the
debt sustainability analysis based on it, the federal government
endorses the payment of the next loan tranche to Greece,” the ministry
paper says.

The Eurogroup plans to approve payment of a E34.3 billion loan
tranche to Greece this month, according to the ministry paper. This
figure includes E16.0 billion for bank recapitalisation and resolution,
E11.3 billion for the debt buy-back — up from the originally approved
figure of E10 billion — and E7.0 billion for the budget.

In the first quarter of next year, the Eurogroup foresees another
E14.8 billion payment to Greece, comprised of E7.2 billion for bank
recapitalisation and resolution and E7.6 billion for the budget. The
budget tranche will be paid out in three steps: E2.0 billion in January,
E2.8 billion in February and E2.8 billion in March.

Another E3.3 billion for Greece will come from the International
Monetary Fund, which brings the total of EU-IMF aid in December and the
first quarter of 2013 combined to E52.4 billion, according to the
ministry document.

While this is higher than initially planned, the full Greek program
will remain limited to E144.6 billion, the ministry stressed. Subsequent
tranches will be lower than planned to offset the higher payment this
time, it said.

–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@mni-news.com

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