Foreclosure

Following strong disagreements with creditors over the level of protection from foreclosure of debtors' primary residence, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos outlined the elements of the bill finally tabled by the government in Parliament on 26 March.

He said the draft legislation will come to a vote within the week.

The Euro Working Group (EWG) ended on Monday night without a decision on the disbursement of almost 1-billion-euros from creditors, as there is still no agreement with the Greek government on its plan for protecting the primary residence of debtors from foreclosure.

Greece is planning to submit a bill to parliament on Friday to protect borrowers from home foreclosures, a government official said on Wednesday, though it is yet to secure the agreement of its lenders on its terms.

Greece's creditors, and the European Central Bank (ECB) in particular, are determined to force Athens to improve the new framework for protecting primary residences from foreclosure so that its does not further exacerbate an already weak payment culture or reward tax dodgers, sources save indicated.

Greece has until the Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers on March 11 to complete all of the pending prior actions it needs to secure the disbursement of 1-billion-euro from creditors, the Euro Working Group decided in Brussels on Friday.

Greece's bailout creditors say the country has fallen behind on several key reforms that have been set as a condition for debt relief.

Representative of Greece's four systemic banks - Alpha, Eurobank, Piraeus, and National Bank of Greece - are holding their second meeting in a week this evening with the government's economic team at the PM's office.

The focus of the meeting will be a new law establishing the framework for the protection of debtors' primary homes from foreclosure.

The ministries of economy and justice agreed on Thursday to freeze foreclosures of properties in the region of Attica for debts towards the banks for two to three months, following the deadly fires in the area that have claimed at least 81 victims and injured scores.

The Cypriot Parliament has passed legislation aimed at providing state guarantees to Hellenic Bank in its acquisition of Cyprus Cooperative Bank's healthy portfolio.

A group of unknown individuals threw stones and paint at a building where a notary's office is housed in the city of Patras early Monday morning, according to local media.

The attack caused minor damages to the building and broke the window of a car parked at the scene. tempo24.gr reported.

Police is searching for the perpetrators.