Full text of Eurogroup agreement on Greece

Page last updated at 05:57 GMT, Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 10:57 EST

eKathimerini:

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Following is the full text of the statement issued by the Eurogroup after a 13-hour meeting that ended on Tuesday with agreement on a second financing programme for Greece that will total 130 billion euros and aims to reduce Greece's debt to around 120 percent of GDP by 2020.

"The Eurogroup welcomes the agreement reached with the Greek government on a policy package that constitutes the basis for the successor programme. We also welcome the approval of the policy package by the Greek parliament, the identification of additional structural expenditure reductions of  325 million to close the fiscal gap in 2012 and the provision of assurances by the leaders of the two coalition parties regarding the implementation of the programme beyond the forthcoming general elections.

This new programme provides a comprehensive blueprint for putting the public finances and the economy of Greece back on a sustainable footing and hence for safeguarding financial stability in Greece and in the euro area as a whole.

The Eurogroup is fully aware of the significant efforts already made by the Greek citizens but also underlines that further major efforts by the Greek society are needed to return the economy to a sustainable growth path.

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