Greek crisis: Greece repays €3.2bn debt due to the European Central Bank
Athens today met the deadline for a €3.2bn (£2.3bn) payment to the European Central Bank (ECB) using new funds from its bailout deal.
Greece received €13bn in financial aid today, most of which will be used to pay down debt. A further €10bn was made available via European Stability Mechanism (ESM) notes to recapitalise Greece's banking system.
"Today’s ESM disbursement will allow Greece to meet its urgent financial obligations to the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank (ECB), and other budgetary needs," Klaus Regling, ESM managing director, said.
"The second sub-tranche of €10bn will contribute to stabilising the banking sector, whose situation deteriorated sharply after the imposition of capital controls in June."
Read more: Greece's bailout deal has been signed – here's what happens next
Today's disbursement was the first tranche of a of the new, three-year bailout deal planned to reach €86bn. But disbursement of the rest of the funds is contingent on Greece implementing unpopular reforms. These include changes to its health, welfare, pensions as well as its taxation systems.
The bailout was passed last night after getting approval from both the German and Dutch parliaments.
Greek prime minister Tsipras was forced to perform a political U-turn in order to secure the bailout deal. He had to accept terms that had previously been refused in a national referendum. As such a significant number of his party's lawmakers voting against the deal in parliament last Friday.
The Greek government must now decide whether to take on anti-bailout rebels in its own ranks by calling a parliamentary confidence vote, or going straight to early elections.