France, Germany agree to quicken aid to Greece
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Saturday to speed up negotiations for the bailout of debt-ridden Greece, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
The two leaders held a telephone talk to concrete their " complete identity of views and reaffirmed their determination to act quickly to implement the aid plan," the statement said.
The aid plan will support a three-year program to be concluded soon between the Greek authorities, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, the statement added.
They promised to present measures in the next few days that aim to reinforce the stability of the euro zone and the regulation of the financial market, which includes the rein-in of speculation and increasing the transparency of derived products.
Their discussion was followed by working meeting among French cabinet members on further discussion about the aid package prepared for Greece and the surveillance scheme over European market.
Representatives from the European Commission, IMF and European Central Bank have been negotiating with Greek government on detailed measures since last week.
The Greek government said Friday that the negotiation was coming to the end.
The European Commission and IMF are considering offering Greece a loan of between 100 and 120 billion euros (133-160 billion U.S. dollars) over a three-year period, instead of the 45 billion euro promised earlier, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said after the meeting.
In exchange for this, the Greek government has to take more austerity measures along with necessary structural reform, media reports said.
