European authorities have authorized handing €7.5 billion ($8.4 billion), in bailout aid to Greece, which will allow the country to keep paying its bills in the coming months. It has also won additional pledges of debt relief, helping to ease concerns about another crisis in Greece at a time when Europe is dealing with an influx of migrants and a continuing terrorist threat, AP reported. Debt relief has been a contentious issue for creditors, with the International Monetary Fund and Germany lining up on opposite sides. The IMF has insisted that Greece cannot meet its budget goals without easing its debts, while Germany remains skeptical of cutting Athens more slack. They have reached a compromise, of sorts. Greece’s creditors committed to debt relief, although not until 2018 at the earliest, provided the country continues to carry out painful changes. Since Greece’s debt crisis began in 2010, most international banks and foreign investors have sold their Greek bonds and other holdings, so they are no longer vulnerable to what happens in Greece.
