‘One or Two More’ Greece Bailouts Likely

The Greek economy is recovering slowly but may need another boost, says European Central Bank

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Angelos Tzortzinis / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Experts from supervising bodies will meet for debt recovery talks in Athens later this month.

The eurozone may need to help Greece with one or even two more aid packages, according to a representative of the European Central Bank (ECB).

“We will have to make some extra efforts — certainly once, perhaps twice”, said Luc Coene, a ECB Governing Council member on Wednesday.

Greece’s economy is seeing “very slow” improvements, he said, following a €200 billion ($265 billion) bailout from eurozone lenders and another €40 billion ($530 billion) package from the International Monetary Fund. But the country’s debt problems no longer pose an immediate threat to the “whole edifice” of the eurozone.

The financial situation is “much better armed” to ward off another crisis, said Coene, who is also the president of Belgium’s National Bank. International experts from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund will meet in Athens later this month for talks on Greece’s recovery.

[WSJ]