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To secure the release of the money, Greece approved a reform
bill on Thursday, although the vote cost the ruling coalition of
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' two deputies when dissenting
lawmakers were expelled.
The bill, outlining regulation on tax arrears and home
foreclosures, paves the way for the disbursement of 2 billion
euros ($2.15 billion) to pay state arrears and up to 10 billion
euro to recapitalize Greece's top four banks.
But even though the compliance report from the European
Commission was positive, euro zone officials said, it listed one
reform as still pending and three as needing to be followed up.
"I don’t think that any final decisions on the disbursement will
be made today, rather on Monday," one senior euro zone official
said.
"I guess it’s a done deal that they will get the 2+10 billion,
but some of the milestones are still not yet completed today, so
a couple of more days is needed."
There might be a teleconference of the deputy finance ministers
again on Sunday, the official said.
A second official also said there would be no final decision on
the disbursement on Friday.
"Firm decisions could happen on Monday if all goes well, but
there is no total certainty yet," the second official said.
"There is clearly progress, but some questions and smaller
issues remain and an in-depth and detailed analysis has not yet
been done."
A third official said the decision on the disbursement of the
money for Greek bank recapitalization was likely to be
formulated in a way that would authorize the bailout fund to pay
out up to 10 billion euros for the purpose.
The Greek banking sector would need only between 6 and 9 billion
euros in recapitalization money from the euro zone, the third
official said.
The European Central Bank has estimated the total
recapitalization needs of Greek banks at 14.4 billion euros, but
the reminder of the money is likely to come from private
investors, the official said.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski)
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