Aid plan to Greece adopted in French lower house of parliament

The National Assembly (lower house of parliament) of France has adopted the aid plan to Greece, which provided a loan of EUR 16.8 billion over three years, of which EUR 3.9 billion for the year 2010.

The financial amending bill, presented by the French Budget Minister Francois Baroin, was adopted by show of hands, after long debates among French deputies. The Senate is expected to vote as early as Thursday for final adoption.

In her speech opening the debate, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde urged parliament members to support this bill presented April 21 in the Council of Ministers.

“Our support in Greece is a moral imperative, an imperative of solidarity, and also an economic imperative because support Greece today is to stabilize the euro and strengthen Eurozone, and these requirements, of course, transcend the traditional left-right divide, ” said Lagarde.

She said it would be “extremely vigilant” vis-a-vis the implementation of austerity measures which should be taken by the Greek Government in accordance with the agreement reached with the European Union and the IMF.