BERLIN (MNI) – The German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag,
on Friday approved German loans to Greece of up to E22.4 billion over
three years, with a first tranche of up to E8.4 billion to be disbursed
this year.
The state-owned KfW bank is to grant the loans to Greece. The
Bundestag today authorized the government to guarantee those loans.
The upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, which represents the
16 states, is to vote on the bill later today. Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s CDU/CSU-FDP coalition wields majorities in both the Bundestag
and the Bundesrat.
Wolfgang Reinhart, Minister for European Affairs in the CDU-FDP
governed state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, told German Phoenix public
television earlier today that a majority for the bill in the Bundesrat
was assured.
The opposition Greens also voted for the bill in the Bundestag
today, while the larger SPD abstained from voting and the Left Party
voted against it.
Eurozone leaders are to approve the full program later today at a
meeting in Brussels. The joint package of Eurozone countries and the IMF
amounts to E110 billion in loans over a period of three years. The
Eurozone states will shoulder E80 billion, the IMF E30 billion.
Several German professors have announced that they will launch
today a lawsuit at the German Constitutional Court against the German
aid for Greece.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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