Greeks Skeptical Despite Bailout Deal

February 21, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Eurozone finance ministers have approved a 130bn euro ($170bn) second bailout package for Greece to resolve the debt-ridden nation's immediate repayment needs. However, the deal, reached after 13 hours of tortuous talks in Brussels, is unlikely to revive Greece's ailing economy. There is much skepticism that an economy in such a poor state could pay the loan back soon enough before the country is mired in a deeper recession. Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reports from Athens, Greece's capital.

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Greece

Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. According to the 2011 census, Greece's population is around 11 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, its urban area also including Piraeus. Greece is strategically located at the cr... Explore this topic

Athens

Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home... Explore this topic

Austerity

In economics, austerity describes policies used by governments to reduce budget deficits during adverse economic conditions. These policies can include spending cuts, tax increases, or a mixture of the two. Austerity policies may be attempts to demonstrate governments' liquidi... Explore this topic

European sovereign debt crisis

The European sovereign debt crisis is an ongoing financial crisis that has made it difficult or impossible for some countries in the euro area to repay or re-finance their government debt without the assistance of third parties. In 1992, members of the European Union signed th... Explore this topic

Anti-austerity protests

Anti-austerity protests, chiefly taking the form of massive street protests by those affected by them and some of them also involving a greater or lesser degree of militancy, have happened regularly across various countries, especially on the European continent, since the onse... Explore this topic

Eurozone

The eurozone, officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of 17 European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender. The eurozone currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France,... Explore this topic

Economy of Greece

The economy of Greece is the 32nd or 37th largest in the world at $312 or $309 billion by nominal gross domestic product or purchasing power parity respectively, according to World Bank statistics for the fiscal year 2009–2010. Additionally, Greece is the 15th largest economy ... Explore this topic

Evangelos Venizelos

Evangelos Venizelos is a Greek politician, a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Greece from 17 June 2011 to 21 March 2012. He is a member of the Hellenic Parliament for the Panhellenic Socialist Movement for the first electoral district of Thessaloniki. H... Explore this topic

Bailout

A bailout is a colloquial pejorative term for giving a loan to a company or country which faces serious financial difficulty or bankruptcy. It may also be used to allow a failing entity to fail gracefully without spreading contagion. The term is maritime in origin being the ac... Explore this topic

Politics of Greece

The Politics of Greece takes place in a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Hellenic Parliament. Between the re... Explore this topic

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