Dijsselbloem: Letter towards ESM to examine Greek request

The European Stability Mechanism on Wednesday requested EU expert advice on Greece’s latest request for a loan to avoid default, amid a looming deadline by creditors to clinch a bailout deal by Sunday. ESM officials also requested IMF assistance.

According to Reuters, the ESM released a letter from its board chairman, Eurogroup head and Dutch FimMin Jeroen Dijsselbloem, asking the European Commission and European Central Bank to assess:

1) whether Greece’s problems posed a threat to the stability of the euro zone as a whole or to its member states — a condition for eligibility for an ESM loan;

2) with the International Monetary Fund, whether Greece’s public debt is sustainable; and

3) how much financing Greece may need

“These assessments … will form the basis for the ESM … decision whether to grant, in principle, stability support to the Hellenic Republic in the form of a loan,” Dijsselbloem wrote in the letter to EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and ECB President Mario Draghi.