Greece: PM vows to reopen public broadcaster, more EU funds

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offered to hire a small number of workers to resume a public news broadcast, he said in a statement on Friday, in a concession to coalition partners angry over the shutdown of loss-making state broadcaster ERT that is regarded a black hole for taxpayers’ funds.
He said a special liquidator appointed for ERT would set up a committee backed by all parties to hire workers so that the news broadcast could restart immediately.
He said he expected his coalition partners – who have demanded the immediate reopening of ERT – to have a "responsible" stance on the proposal.
Meanwhile, a working group of euro zone ministers and officials reportedly support Greece's next bailout payment, two finance ministry officials said on Friday, a decision made easier by the closure of state broadcaster ERT.
The 3.3 bln euro ($4.4 bln) payment was approved by euro zone finance ministers last month, contingent on benchmarks to be met in June on anti-corruption efforts, household debt relief and reforms of the electricity market.
The sources said the Eurogroup Working Group, which comprises mainly deputy finance ministers and senior treasury officials, had now backed the disbursement, paving the way for the currency bloc's finance ministers to sign off on it.
Greece's decision this week to fire about 2,600 ERT employees, which has left the government embroiled in a political crisis, influenced the working group.
"The ERT shutdown certainly helped," one of the two officials was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Disbursement of the latest aid tranche, which is due some time this month, would bring the total rescue loans Athens has obtained from the EU and the IMF since mid-2010 to about 210 bln euros.
The EU and the IMF have pledged about 240 bln euros over 2010-2014 to stave off a debt default that would have destabilised the euro zone.
As one condition of the bailout, Greece has promised to lay off 4,000 public sector workers by the end of the year, with half to be dismissed by the end of September.