No agreement on how to boost bail-out fund

Greek loan decision delayed

More pressure was heaped on Greece by eurozone finance ministers as they announced that they had further delayed a decision to allow the latest release of international funds to the country. A meeting of eurozone finance ministers scheduled for 13 October, when the €8 billion loan disbursement was expected to be confirmed, was cancelled by Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg and president of the Eurogroup. No decision is now expected until November.

Juncker said a report into whether Greece had complied with the conditions of its international bail-out would not now be ready until 13 October. Ministers, he added, were determined to solve the crisis without letting Greece default on its debts or allowing it to leave the eurozone. “No one advocated default for Greece or an exit of Greece from the euro area,” Juncker said. “I have to firmly deny all rumours regarding a Greek default.” He told reporters that there could be “technical changes” to the level of private-sector involvement in the new Greek bail-out.