Greek parliament passed a bailout agreement

Thursday, Jul 16 2015

Greek lawmakers passed a bailout agreement that keeps the country in the euro for now, shifting attention to the European Central Bank as it weighs whether to pump more money into the country’s hobbled financial system.

After more than four hours of debate stretching into the early hours of Thursday, 229 members of the 300-seat parliament in Athens approved new austerity measures that are a precondition of as much as 86 billion euros ($94 billion) in aid. Among those who opposed the bill were 32 members of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s Coalition of the Radical Left, or Syriza, a sign the premier may have lost his majority.

The vote puts the onus on the ECB and other euro-region governments to deploy more emergency funds that would help Greek banks gradually re-open and repair the country’s battered coffers. The ECB’s Governing Council meets in Frankfurt later on Thursday and Germany’s parliament will vote Friday on whether to start bailout negotiations to help Greece cover its debts and pay pensions and salaries.

Accepting the agreement with creditors “was a decision which will be a burden for me for the rest of my life,” Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos told lawmakers at the start of the debate. “I don’t know if we did the right thing. But I know we did something to which there was no alternative.”

After the vote euro slightly fell but managed to rebound and is currently being traded around 1.0930 level. Pair is likely to find support around 1.09 handle and resistance above 1.0980 area. Later today, ECB interest rate decision is scheduled for a release and the following press conference will be held.

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