German Parliament overwhelmingly Approves Greek Bailout

Local Editor

Germany's Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a third bailout package for Greece despite misgivings by some conservative lawmakers of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Party.

Lawmakers voted 454-113 in favor of the deal Wednesday, with 18 abstentions.

A breakdown of the vote by party wasn't immediately available but the result seemed to dispel widespread speculation that Merkel would face a rise in dissenters within her conservative bloc.

Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble called party parliamentarians to vote in favor of the bailout. Previously, Schauble had been more radical and suggested that Greece should temporarily leave the eurozone. But last month he told parliament that the third bailout was a last resort to settle the long-standing problem of Greece's €320-billion foreign debt.

Germany is the largest single contributor to the bailouts. The vote for the bailout package was also supported by Merkel's coalition partner, the Social Democrats, and the opposition Greens.

Lawmakers in Spain, Estonia and Austria ratified the deal on Tuesday. Later that day, ratings agency Fitch upgraded Greece's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings by one notch to 'CCC' from 'CC'. However, the agency says that the risks of unsuccessful completion of the Greek bailout are still high.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team