Eurozone hails Greece breakthrough deal

Brussels

THE eurozone gave Greece its firmest offer yet of debt relief in what finance ministers called a breakthrough deal that won a provisional commitment from the IMF to return to taking part in the bailout for Athens, heartening investors.

After talks that lasted into the small hours of Wednesday, Eurogroup finance ministers gave a nod to releasing 10.3 billion euros (S$15.8 billion) in new funds for Greece in recognition of painful fiscal reforms pushed through by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist-led coalition, subject to some final technical tweaks.

But a bigger step forward was a deal under which the eurozone agreed to offer Athens debt relief in 2018 if that is necessary to meet agreed criteria on its payment…