The Greek government today looked for a first payment from an international bail-out as fears that Europe's €750 billion war chest will not stave off a major debt crisis punctured market euphoria.
Stock markets in Asia and Europe fell and the euro came down from yesterday's highs amid worries that despite the huge sums lined up, Greece and other debt-burdened countries will not carry out tough austerity measures. The Greek government is to ask the European Union and International Monetary Fund for a first tranche of €20 billion from a €110 billion bailout package to help it make debt payments this month, a finance ministry source said.
Athens yesterday ordered a radical overhaul of the country's costly pension system that it has warned faces collapse. But unions vowed to oppose the plan, which would see an average pension cut of 7% by 2030. The European Central Bank today resumed loans of US dollars following an agreement with the US Federal Reserve that is part of a massive European Union plan to save the euro. The ECB loaned $9.2 billion (€7.2 billion) to seven euro zone banks at a fixed rate of 1.22%, a statement said. Central banks in several countries agreed over the weekend to swap currencies for dollars provided by the Fed to ease tension on interbank lending markets caused by the euro zone debt crisis. The ECB yesterday announced several measures aimed at financial markets, including the resumption of six-month loans in euros and the purchase of public debt, something it had refused to do until now.