The European Central Bank made more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) of extra funding available to Greek lenders as euro-area finance officials told the Athens government it’s time to prove it can be trusted.
The Governing Council handed Greece the biggest increase in emergency funding in a month, raising the limit to just over 71 billion euros in its weekly telephone conference on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the decision who asked not to be named because the call was private. An ECB spokesman declined to comment.
The Frankfurt-based institution’s move is its latest to defer a financial meltdown in Greece as euro-area governments hold back bailout money, complaining Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hasn’t convinced them his economic plan can meet their requirements. Greece has until Monday to offer sufficient detail on the program, after finance ministry deputies reviewed the situation on a Wednesday conference call.