Eurozone finance ministers approved the launch of formal talks with Greece yesterday on a new 3-year bailout deal, after the Greek Parliament passed the omnibus bill of reforms set as the condition to open the negotiations. In their statement, Euro zone finance ministers agreed in principle yesterday to start negotiations with Greece on a new, 3-year ESM stability support agreement. According to the statement, "the Eurogroup welcomes the adoption by the Greek Parliament of all the commitments specified in the Euro Summit statement of 12 July."

The European Central Bank (ECB) decided yesterday (16.07) to raise the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) limit for Greece's banks by €900 million, in line with a request from the Bank of Greece. This increase in the cash available to the Greek credit system may pave the way for banks to reopen on Monday, July 20.