Greece gets first tranche of €14.5 billion loans from EU

Frankfurt: The Greek government confirmed Tuesday it had received €14.5 billion from the European Commission, representing the first disbursement of bilateral loans arranged by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Of the total, Germany contributed €4.4 billion, the largest amount, while France contributed €3.3 billion and Italy provided €2.9 billion euros.

Greece has already received €5.5 billion from the IMF last week, and together with Tuesday's disbursement has now received the first tranche of €20 billion from the joint EU/IMF support mechanism.

"These disbursements cover the immediate and short-term financing needs of the Hellenic Republic," the finance ministry said in a statement.

The EU and the IMF have agreed to a three-year, €110 billion bailout for Greece contingent to the Mediterranean nation agreeing to additional austerity measures.

EU nations have created a European Stabilization Mechanism, a package of up to €750 billion, to support other heavily indebted euro-zone countries, including Portugal and Spain.

In the latest test of market confidence, Spain on Tuesday sold €4.4 billion of 12-month bills priced to yield about 1.7 per cent. It also sold €2.1 billion of 18-month debt priced to yield almost 2.1 per cent.

The total touched the lower end of the target range of €6.5-7.5 billion sought to be raised from the market.