Dutch parliament approves Greek bailout

The Dutch parliament on Wednesday voted down a motion calling on the government not to back a third bailout package for Greece, effectively endorsing the rescue of the debt-ridden fellow euro zone country.
The motion was rejected by a margin of 81-52 in the 150-member parliament. One member of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s own party broke away to oppose the bailout, which is unpopular with Rutte’s conservative voter base.
Rutte said earlier that a parliamentary motion for or against the bailout was unnecessary, as it was the cabinet, not parliament, that makes policy.
Rutte also easily survived a no-confidence vote called by right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders, who deeply opposes the bailout.
Speaking to the parliament before the vote, Eurogroup President and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said he believes that euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund will be able to come to an agreement on IMF participation in Greece’s latest bailout package.
Dijsselbloem said that while European governments opposed any nominal writedown of Greek debt, and while the IMF believed Greek debt was not sustainable as is, they will be able to find a compromise in the form of lower interest rates and longer repayment terms.
Dijsselbloem said the Eurogroup is convinced that Greece’s debt burden will be sustainable for years to come after the bailout, until 2030 at least.
“The IMF is gloomier about that than we are, their gloomiest scenario is gloomier than ours, but we have come to an agreement about the approach,” he said.
If Greece’s economy performs worse than expected and it has difficulty in repaying its debt “we will then look at the duration of loans. But that’s not even necessary now,” Dijsselbloem said.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has expressed scepticism about the sustainability of Greek debt under the bailout package’s terms. The IMF’s board is to decide on whether to participate in the bailout only when it meets in October.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.