BRUSSELS: The euro zone approved the latest €8.5 billion ($9.7 billion) bailout disbursement to Greece on Friday, just in time for Athens to meet major debt repayments and avert default.
“The Board of Directors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) today approved the third tranche of €8.5 billion of ESM financial assistance to Greece,” the euro zone bailout fund said in a statement.
The 19 euro zone finance ministers struck a long-delayed cash-for-reforms deal with Greece last month to unlock the badly needed rescue funds but the payout was delayed by a legal snag.
The deal was meant to avert a repeat of the summer of 2015 when Greece spectacularly defaulted on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan and allow Athens to meet €7 billion of debt repayments due in July.
But Spain last month threatened to block the disbursement, angry that Athens has failed to drop a legal case against European experts, including some of its officials, who had worked on the Greek privatization program.
Greece’s supreme court on Tuesday dismissed the case, opening the way for Friday’s payment.
ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling said: “Today’s decision ... shows that Greece has completed the reforms required at this stage.”
“The government should continue on this path to rebuild a competitive economy and regain investors’ trust,” Regling said in the statement.
EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, a former French finance and economy minister, said all parties had worked together to get to this “new positive stage.”
“Greece’s partners recognize the unbelievable efforts made by the Greek people to stabilize the economy. This payment opens a new chapter for Greece whose key words must be jobs, investment and recovery for the benefit of all,” he said.
Greece’s third bailout since 2015 is set to run until 2018, with Athens hoping to win significant debt relief at the program’s conclusion. In return for aid, successive governments have had to adopt stinging and hugely unpopular austerity measures in an effort to balance the public finances burdened by a mountain of debt.
Euro zone OKs $9.7 billion bailout for Greece
Euro zone OKs $9.7 billion bailout for Greece
BYD Americas CEO hails Middle East as ‘homeland for innovation’
- In an interview on the sidelines of Davos, Stella Li highlighted the region’s openness to new technologies and opportunities for growth
DAVOS: BYD Americas CEO Stella Li described the Middle East as a “homeland for innovation” during an interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
The executive of the Chinese electric vehicle giant highlighted the region’s openness to new technologies and opportunities for growth.
“The people (are) very open. And then from the government, from everybody there, they are open to enjoy the technology,” she said.
BYD has accelerated its expansion of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids across the Middle East and North Africa region, with a strong focus on Gulf Cooperation Council countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
GCC EV markets, led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, rank among the world’s fastest-growing. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has been aggressively investing in the EV sector, backing Lucid Motors, launching its brand Ceer, and supporting charging infrastructure development.
However, EVs still account for just over 1 percent of total car sales, as high costs, limited charging infrastructure, and extreme weather remain challenges.
In summer 2025, BYD announced it was aiming to triple its Saudi footprint following Tesla’s entry, targeting 5,000 EV sales and 10 showrooms by late 2026.
“We commit a lot of investment there (in the region),” Li noted, adding that the company is building a robust dealer network and introducing cutting-edge technology.
Discussing growth plans, she envisioned Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East as a potential “dreamland” for innovation — what she described as a regional “Silicon Valley.”
Talking about the EV ambitions of the Saudi government, she said: “If they set up (a) target, they will make (it) happen. Then they need a technology company like us to support their … 2030 Vision.”
