Greece Gets Nearly $14.4 Billion to Pay E.C.B. and I.M.F.

20-Aug (New York Times) — Greece received new aid from other eurozone countries on Thursday, allowing it to meet the deadline for a crucial payment to the European Central Bank and to narrowly avoid defaulting on its debt.

The release of 13 billion euros, or nearly $14.4 billion, is part of €86 billion in new aid to Greece that cleared the last remaining political hurdles on Wednesday, including approval by the German Parliament.

The European Stability Mechanism, the agency responsible for administering aid money on behalf of the 19 countries in the eurozone, said in a statement on Thursday that it had approved giving Greece €13 billion immediately in order to meet obligations to the central bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Greece must pay €3.2 billion that is due on Thursday on government bonds held by the European Central Bank. Failure to pay would have put Greece into default and provoked another crisis.

Most of the €86 billion in new aid will be used to repay existing debt rather than to rebuild the shattered Greek economy, leading to criticism that eurozone creditors are repeating the same austerity policies that delivered six years in a row of recession in Greece.

[source]

PG View: Let’s recall that Greece already defaulted back on 30-Jun. Even if they are now fully caught-up with the IMF, there was still a default.