“Greece has turned page”, Athens hails euro deal

The Greek government welcomed a deal with euro zone finance ministers on Friday that extended its international bailout programme by four months, which a government official said gave Athens time to negotiate a "new deal".

"Greece has turned a page," the official said, adding that the new government will present reforms for the interim period, with a priority for those where there is common ground with its euro zone partners — such as tackling tax evasion, corruption and dealing with the humanitarian crisis.
"We have avoided recessionary measures," the official said.
International creditors gave Greece until the end of Monday to present a list of reform measures it plans and set a deadline of the end of April for creditors agreeing to a final list, the Eurogroup said in a joint statement on Friday.
"The Greek authorities will present a first list of reform measures, based on the current arrangement, by the end of Monday February 23," said the statement, which confirmed an agreement to extend Greece's bailout programme by four months.
"The institutions will provide a first view whether this is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review. This list will be further specified and then agreed with the institutions by the end of April."
"This is a very positive outcome," Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a news conference.
Euro zone funds for Greek bank recapitalisation will remain available for that purpose, but will now be held by the euro zone bailout fund and released only on the request of the European Central Bank, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers said.
The almost 11 bln euros in euro zone bailout fund bonds for Greek bank recapitalisation is now held by the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF).
Dijsselbloem said the reason behind moving the money back was to make sure that the funds would remain earmarked only for Greek bank recapitalisation, should it prove necessary, rather than to finance the needs of the Greek government.