Eurogroup puts back decision on Greek loans

Eurozone finance ministers late Monday said they would once again delay releasing a much-needed 8.0 billion euros to Greece to help it meet its debt obligations, saying it needed to do more to qualify for the cash.

World markets suffered heavy losses on Monday after Athens admitted at the weekend it would miss its deficit targets, adding to uncertainty over whether it would secure the next tranche of its massive bailout.

Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday that eurozone partners had asked the Greek government to take moves to ensure further savings in 2013 and 2014.

That would then lead to a "definite and final decision in the course of October" as Greece has said it does not need the 8.0 billion euros in blocked loans until November, the AFP reports.

Juncker said that the final decision on Greece’s 8-billion-euro instalment has been postponed because the troika's assessment will not be ready by October 13. He did not suggest an alternative date for the meeting but insisted that Greece would not default and that there had been no discussion of this option, ekathimerini.com reports.

Athens had warned last month that it will start running out of money in mid-October if it does not receive its next slice of funding and that could lead to payments to civil servants and pensioners being affected.

However, Belgium Finance Minister Didier Reynders suggested that Athens could wait a little longer for the liquidity it needs.