EU Nearing Bailout For Greece...
(RTTNews) - The European Union is working on reaching an agreement on a bail-out deal for Greece, media reports said Saturday. Euro leaders are set to meet in Brussels on Monday to finalize the proposal.
The multi-billion euro rescue package would provide loans and guarantees for Greece if it sought help for financing its deficit, reports said citing EU officials. The Greek crisis had hurt the 16-nation currency, euro. Greece has not asked for financial help thus far.
Currently, Greece's debt is at a staggering 300 billion euros. With the deficit equal to 12.7% of the gross domestic product, Prime Minister George Papandreou's government has been under immense pressure from the EU to take immediate steps to address the crisis, as all member states are required to keep their budget deficits to 3% of GDP or under.
The Greek parliament approved additional 4.8 billion euros austerity measures on March 5. In January, the government had announced a stability program to help the country in reducing its budget gap to 2.8% of GDP in 2012. However, Greek worker unions are opposing austerity measures and have already held several nation-wide strikes in protest. The downgrading of its credit ratings has made it more difficult and expensive for Greece to borrow money.