BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)--Euro zone finance ministers have approved the disbursement of an EUR8 billion loan payment for Greece, a senior European Union official said Friday.
"The loan payment has been approved. Athens should be getting the money by early November at the latest," the official told Dow Jones Newswires.
The loan tranche is part of an EUR110 billion bailout package approved last May by Greece's creditors--the E.U., the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund--to keep the country from going bankrupt.
The latest loan tranche came after long negotiations between Athens and its creditors, and after the Greek government agreed to adopt a series of new austerity measures aiming at cutting its budget deficit.
E.U. finance ministers and leaders are meeting in Brussels until next Wednesday aiming to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis which will likely include a haircut for private creditors holding Greek government bonds.
-By Costas Paris and Matina Stevis, Dow Jones Newswires; 0032 (0) 27411483; matina.stevis@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2011 14:18 ET (18:18 GMT)
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