Greek bail-out to be signed-off

Eurozone finance ministers are expected to rubber-stamp Greece's bail-out on Monday despite concerns the country could need another rescue package.

Finance ministers will meet in Brussels to give their final approval to the second bail-out, worth €130  billion (£108 billion).

Part of the aid package was immediately unblocked after the country pushed through a sovereign debt restructuring last week, persuading investors to forgive more than euros 100 billion of debt. That will lead to the declaration of a "credit event" that will trigger about $3.2 billion (pounds 2 billion) of credit default swap insurance payouts.

There remains uncertainty over the effect the insurance payouts will have on markets, despite assurances from the head of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association that he did not see a significant market impact, given the relatively small exposure.

With the debt swap, it was agreed that Greece had met the terms for its rescue. Ministers freed €35.5 billion in payments and interest for bondholders, with a decision on the balance of the funds to be made today. Ministers are expected to sign off the rescue, but there are already concerns that the country could need yet another bail-out.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, said: "Nobody can rule out that Greece will not need a third package, I spoke in parliament about that completely frankly. But now is not the time to discuss a third package, it is the time to implement the second package."

Charles Dallara, managing director of the International Institute of Finance and a central figure in last week's bond swap, played down such concerns. "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel much sooner than others can. I believe that pessimism should go home for a while and give hope a chance to grow. No other country has ever seen so much debt destroyed. This will happen on Monday in the space of a minute," he said.