CRI听力:Greece Agrees "in Principal" to a Third Bailout Deal with Creditors

After months of delays, the Greek government has finally agreed to a third bailout deal, which will provide up to 86 billion euros in new credit over the next three years to keep the economy from collapsing.

Annika Breidthardt with the European Commission says there are still some minor details to be sorted out.

"What we have at the moment is a technical level agreement reached by the staff of the institutions and the Greek authorities on the ground following the weeks of negotiations. What we don't have at the moment is a political agreement and that's what we would need."

The Greek Parliament is expected to vote on the bailout package on Thursday.

Under the new agreement, the retirement age in Greece will be increased to 67 by 2022.

There will also be further cuts to Greece's social welfare system.

The leftist Syriza government has also agreed to a new round of privatization, which will include the sale of some of Greece's key ports.
 
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been under fire by his supporters for accepting the agreement, even after voters rejected the terms of a bailout proposal back in July.

However, not everyone is casting blame, with a growing number in Greece suggesting they're ready to accept what comes their way.

"It's like being between a rock and a hard place. The Prime Minister has chosen the path that everybody was wishing for and were against at the same time. I mean everybody was hoping that we remain in the eurozone, but also that new austerity measures will not come. There is no turning back from where we stand.

The Athens Stock Exchange gained 2.2 percent in midday trading on Monday after the Greek government agreed to the broad bailout terms.

That represented the first positive sign for the Athens market in weeks, which has seen almost a quarter of its value wiped out after trading resumed after being shut down for 5-weeks.

Rehabilitating Greek banks and easing restrictions on withdrawals and lending will be the next steps.

Evangelos Sioutis, an analyst for Guardian Trust Securities in Athens, says there are still many uncertainties.

"The future of the market from now on will depend on the details of the deal but also on the political stability - we don't know yet if we are going to have elections or not - and we don't know anything regarding the bank assets in terms of bank recapitalisation."

Eurozone finance ministers will meet on Friday to discuss the deal and give the final go-ahead.

Greece needs a deal by August 20th.

This is when a 3 billion euro debt repayment is due to the European Central Bank.

For Cri I'm Poornima Weerasekara