Bundestag approves aid package for Greece

Germany's parliament on Friday approved a financial aid package for Greece that is designed to ensure Athens can stand on its own feet after it exits a third bailout program in August.

The Bundestag voted by a wide majority to approve the package of measures, which include extended maturities and deferred interest payments on many loans as well as a 15-billion-euro cash injection.

The package, which was agreed by the eurozone finance ministers' meeting in Luxembourg last week, must be approved by national parliaments in several countries.

Greece has been living primarily on money borrowed from eurozone governments in three bailouts since 2010, when it lost market access because of a ballooning budget deficit, huge public debt and an inefficient economy and welfare system.

[Reuters]