Chancellor in ‘critical’ negotiations over eurozone crisis

EUROZONE finance ministers have agreed to give Greece its next instalment of aid money, as Chancellor George Osborne admitted a round of weekend negotiations in Brussels will be “critical” in selling the crisis.

The ministers said Greece would receive the funding of about £6.9 billion next month, as long as the International Monetary Fund signed off on its part in the coming weeks.

They are also working on a second rescue package for the debt-ridden country, which would include new aid money and contributions from the private sector.

Before leaving for Brussels for talks today with fellow EU finance ministers, Mr Osborne said resolving the crisis would be a boost for growth, not just in the eurozone, but in the UK and across the world.

Mr Osborne is attending the meeting ahead of a Sunday summit of all 27 EU leaders, amid growing concern that an answer to the economic crisis in Europe is slipping from the grasp of the member states.

A crunch summit was planned for last Monday, but German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy announced a postponement until Sunday after realising they were far from agreement on key issues such as a massive reinforcement of an existing bail-out fund, and a major recapitalisation of European banks.

A sense of indecision and confusion worsened on Thursday night when Paris and Berlin announced that another summit would be held in Brussels next Wednesday.