ECB Raises Emergency Fund for Greece

The European Central Bank has agreed to grant Greece emergency liquidity assistance after the country agreed on reform measures, said Mario Draghi, ECB president. The president said things have changed now, that after a series of votes in various parliament with the assistance of the bridge financing package they’ve concluded to raise the ELA to help Greece.

According to Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Euro-area finance ministers authorized a 7 billion Euro ($7.6 billion) loan to Greece. The deal that would pave way for Greece’s third bailout since joining Euro-group is expected to be announced on Friday after national parliaments might have voted based on the aid accord that Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras submitted on Monday.

Greece’s Parliament on Thursday debated for more than four hours to approve the austerity measures that are precondition aid package of 86 billion euros. This short-term loan is important to help Greece meet a 3.5 billion-euro payment due to European Central Bank On Monday.

“We have always acted on the assumption that Greece will remain a member of the euro are, there was never a question,” Draghi said on Thursday. He also stated that the ECB substantially accommodated Greece’s bank request of 900 million euros in full.

The ECB’s change of stance by granting more liquidity contradicts the earlier proposal of continuous freeze.