Netherlands: Greek bailout package could be delayed until April

Feb 16, 2012, 11:06 GMT

The Hague - A second bailout package for Greece could be delayed until after parliamentary elections, currently scheduled for April, are held, the Dutch finance minister said in an interview published Thursday.

'(EU) Trust in Greece has reached its lowest point', De Jager told the Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.

His comments came just a day after Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker said that Greece has finally delivered the necessary assurances for the bailout and that he expected the package to be approved on Monday.

Time is running out for Greece, which faces a 14.5-billion-euro bond repayment on March 20.

But De Jager said it was 'quite clear that several EU countries, among them the Netherlands ... are not at all satisfied with the promises Athens made last week.'

'We (in the EU) do want to see more guarantees in place by implementing in law some of the measures that are absolutely needed in the next two weeks before we can give the final 'ok' to the (second rescue) package', he added.

Before Juncker's announcement, Greece had fulfilled only one of three conditions set by the Eurogroup for a 130-billion-euro (171-billion-dollar) aid package: Approval by parliament on Sunday of a 3-billion-euro austerity and economic reform package.

But late Wednesday, Juncker said Athens had explained how it intended to close a 325-million-euro budget gap and provided 'strong assurances' from political leaders that they would stick to the bailout terms.