Greece's 2nd bailout procedures on track

Greece has made sufficient progress in securing a second bailout from the euro zone countries, the Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker said here on Thursday. All required legislation by the parliament and the ministerial cabinet had been adopted, and a few pending implementing acts should be completed shortly, Juncker said in a statement after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Thursday afternoon. Finance ministers were satisfied that Greece had acted swiftly in the areas of fiscal consolidation, revenue administration, pension reform, financial sector regulation, and growth-enhancing structural reforms, the statement said. Meanwhile, the Eurogroup also reiterated that a successful PSI (private sector involvement) operation with high participation and a final assessment of the complete set of prior actions were necessary conditions "both for the disbursement of these EFSF bonds and for the second program." The Eurogroup "looks forward to a high participation of private creditors in the debt exchange," said the statement, while sources revealed that the final decision on the second package would possibly be made next week. On Thursday, European Union top leaders also gathered in Brussels for this year's two-day spring summit, which is scheduled to focus on boosting growth and jobs.