Greece will now get a second aid tranche of a European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout as it has met the conditions set in an austerity plan, its finance minister was quoted by Reuters as saying on Saturday. EU, IMF and European Central Bank officials will be in Athens on Monday to check whether Greece is implementing its 110 billion euro ($141.6 billion) programme to secure another 9 billion euros in aid. Greece received a first payment of 20 billion euros from its euro zone partners and the IMF in May. "The disbursement of the second tranche depends on whether we meet the targets we have been set to meet by June 30," Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview with the weekly Kosmos tou Ependyti newspaper. "These conditions have been met and we have taken a further step by passing the pension reform bill." The EU, ECB and IMF mission gave the debt-laden country good marks at the end of June, saying it seemed on track with the plan to cut public expenditure, boost revenues and make structural reforms.
