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Greek debt crisis: MPs prepare for second vote on bailout reforms

The Greek parliament is to vote later
on a second set of reforms needed to
secure its bailout deal.
If MPs approve the financial and judicial
reforms, Greece will be able to press
ahead with negotiations for an €86 billion
bailout from its creditors.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been
trying to rally his Syriza colleagues, saying
the Greek people had "pinned their
hopes" on staying in the euro.
The vote is expected to pass with the
support of opposition parties.
Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said it
was "extremely important" for the vote to
pass so that talks on the bailout could
begin on Friday.
But he and Mr Tsipras need to avoid a
significant rebellion from within the ranks
of Syriza.
Some 32 of the radical-left party's 149
MPs - including former finance minister
Yanis Varoufakis - voted against the first
tranche of bailout measures last week.
Another six abstained.
The rebellion reduced Mr Tsipras' support
within his own ruling coalition to just 123,
barely more than the minimum 120
required to sustain a minority
government.
"Up until today I've seen reactions, I've
read heroic statements but I haven't heard
any alternative proposal," Mr Tsipras told
Syriza MPs on Tuesday night, an official
told the Reuters news agency.
"Syriza as a party must reflect society,
must welcome the worries and
expectations of tens of thousands of
ordinary people who have pinned their
hopes on it," he reportedly said.
Last week's vote was about the austerity
measures imposed by Greece's creditors -
a mix of economic reforms and budget
cuts demanded by the eurozone countries
and institutions before bailout talks could
continue.
The measures that will come before the
parliament on Wednesday are of a more
structural nature, including:
a code of civil protection aimed at
speeding up court cases
the adoption of an EU directive to
bolster banks and protect savers'
deposits of less than €100,000
the introduction of rules that would
see bank shareholders and creditors -
not taxpayers - cover costs of a failed
bank
More contentious measures - phasing out
early retirement and tax rises for farmers
- have been pushed back to August.
More money due
Greece's public sector union has called for
a protest during the emergency debate in
parliament on Wednesday evening.
Asked if the threat of a Greek exit from
the euro - or Grexit - had passed, EU
Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre
Moscovici said on Tuesday: "I think we've
made a big step in that direction."
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
confirmed on Monday that Greece had
cleared its overdue debt repayments of
€2.05bn (£1.4bn) and was no longer in
arrears.
The repayments, and another for €4.2bn
to the European Central Bank (ECB) due
on Monday, were made possible by a
short-term EU loan of €7bn.
Greece's next major deadline is 20
August, when it must pay €3.2bn owed to
the ECB, followed by a payment of €1.5bn
to the IMF in September.
The Greek government received a small
boost on Tuesday when credit ratings
agency Standard & Poor's raised the
country's rating by two notches to CCC+
from CCC-.
On Monday, Greek banks reopened after
being closed for three weeks but many
restrictions remain and Greeks are facing
price rises after an increase in VAT.

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