Euro zone clinches deal with Greece after all-night haggle
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Eurozone leaders clinched a deal (= to finally win sg) with Greece on Monday to negotiate a third bailout to keep the near-bankrupt country in the euro zone after a whole night of haggling (=coming to an agreement over the price on the market) at an emergency summit. However, the tough conditions imposed by international lenders led by Germany could bring down (=to cause someone to loose power) Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ leftist government and cause an outcry (=anger) in Greece.
EU officials said Tsipras finally accepted a compromise on German-led demands for the sequestration (=when a property is temporarily taken until the money owed is paid) of Greek state assets to be sold off to pay down debt (=to pay part of the amount you owe to reduce your debt) the terms of the agreement were not immediately known.
The Greek leader also dropped resistance to a full role for the International Monetary Fund in a proposed 86 billion euro ($95.78 billion) bailout, which German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared essential to win parliamentary backing i(=support) n Berlin.
As the hours ticked away overnight (=time passed by) most of the leaders were forced to cool their heels, (=to be kept waiting) playing computer games or taking a nap in their delegation offi8ces while Tusk and the leaders of Germany, France and Greece met several times privately to try to cut through the final knots (=(here) to reach a deal)
If the summit had failed, Greece would have been staring into an economic abyss (=difficult, troublesome situation) with its shuttered banks on the brink of collapse and the prospect of having to print a parallel currency and in time exit the European monetary union.
Six sweeping measures including spending cuts, tax hikes (=unwanted increase in taxes) and pension reforms must be enacted by Wednesday night and the entire package endorsed (=adopted) by parliament before talks can start, the leaders decided.
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