Greece

To many Greeks, the debt the country has amassed is the evil fruit of austerity policies, imposed from the outside, that asphyxiated its economy and trampled on its sovereignty. To the International Monetary Fund, the debt of more than 310 billion euros, or almost $339 billion, is more of a mathematical problem. After years in which it was a stern advocate of tough austerity policies, it now says that there is no way that Greece can reasonably pay its debts and that a substantial amount of it needs to be forgiven.

Athens has been thrown further emergency assistance after the European Central Bank (ECB) increased liquidity for Greek lenders ahead of a crucial vote on a third bailout programme for the debt-stricken nation, The Guardian reported. While lawmakers argued over reforms set as the price of rescue loans from international creditors, the ECB’s governing council agreed to raise the cap on emergency assistance for the country’s fragile banking system by €900m (£629m) on Wednesday. The move was immediately received with relief.

The Greek government submitted legislation to parliament on Tuesday required by its international lenders to start talks on a multi-billion euro rescue package, the Irish Times reported. Prime minister Alexis Tsipras has until Wednesday night to get those measures adopted in the assembly. A first set of reforms triggered a rebellion in his party last week and passed only thanks to votes from pro-EU opposition parties. The second bill, though less divisive, will still be a test his weakened majority.

In a related story, the Financial Times reported that Athens has left a measure imposing higher taxes on farmers out of a reform bill that is essential to securing a new financial rescue worth up to €86bn. The bill, which was submitted to parliament on Tuesday, includes an overhaul of the civil justice system and the incorporation into Greek law of an EU directive on procedures for closing down banks in a crisis. The legislature will vote on the measure on Wednesday.

Reopening the doors of Greek banks on Monday was just the beginning. Restoring trust in the banks, so that customers will be willing to deposit their money again, is one of the most important tasks that Greek and eurozone officials will face as they try to get the economy moving again, the International New York Times reported. But undoing the damage wrought in recent months will take money and time, as well as agreement among quarreling eurozone nations.

Alexis Tsipras should never have hired Yanis Varoufakis as his finance minister, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Or he should have listened to him, and kept him on. But instead the Greek prime minister chose the worst of all options. He followed Mr Varoufakis’ advice of rejecting the offer of the creditors — until last week.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed “in principle” to grant Greece an expensive third bailout designed to keep it in the euro. But the likelihood that the prospective three-year deal will fail—possibly before it starts, let alone is completed—is now estimated at higher than 50% by some at the center of events, The Wall Street Journal reported. In the almost six-year history of the debt crisis, never before has the facade of public optimism among leading actors crumbled like it has over the latest deal.

Greek banks face deep surgery including closures or mergers after a bailout but they are seen getting a brief reprieve with a capital injection before the painful overhaul begins. As part of a deal to secure new funding, Athens had to surrender much autonomy over its economy and this will include handing over more power to European institutions to decide the fate of its sick banks.

Under threat from the nation’s creditors to move quickly or lose any chance of obtaining a desperately needed new bailout package, Greece’s Parliament approved painful new austerity measures early Thursday, virtually guaranteeing that life would get harder for millions of Greeks, the International New York Times reported.

The International Monetary Fund said what everyone knew but would not admit when it laid out in gory detail late Tuesday how Greece could be crushed by its staggering debt unless creditors agreed to lighten the load, the International New York Times reported. The I.M.F. was not saying anything different from what it and its chief, Christine Lagarde, had quietly told eurozone leaders last weekend. But by going public with its warnings, the fund was putting the world on notice: Without some relief that might enable Greece to grow its way out of debt, the I.M.F.