Euro zone finance ministers, including Michael Noonan, will meet in Brussels this evening to consider approving the release of billions of euro in bail-out funds to Greece. It is expected that ministers will give the green light on the funds, after the Greek government secured a deal with private investors to significantly reduce the country's debt.
Last Friday, the Greek government said it had completed the largest restructuring of sovereign debt in history, which should reduce its debt burden by over €100 billion. Private investors agreed to swap the Greek bonds they owned for new bonds, which will be worth significantly less and gave a much lower rate of return. That bond swap is due to happen today.
For months, the 17-member euro zone had said this deal needed to happen before they would release all of the funds from a second bail-out, worth €130 billion euro. A statement from the chair of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, suggests that ministers are likely to approve the release of funds at their meeting this evening. However, Athens will not get the money immediately as some states' laws, including Germany, demand that parliament also gives its stamp of approval to the plan.