Greece made a crucial 3.2 billion euro debt repayment 

Greece made a crucial 3.2 billion euro debt repayment on Thursday using newly released bailout funds, a government source said, as a senior minister argued for rapid elections following a rebellion in the ruling party.

The repayment to the European Central Bank marked another step for Greece away from near financial collapse, but Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras must now tackle a political crisis after anti-bailout rebels robbed his government of its parliamentary majority.

Athens repaid the debt using money from the first instalment of its new bailout after the program cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday night, with the ESM European bailout fund approving the 86 billion euro ($96 billion) deal.

“The payment was made, the funds are on their way,” the official told Reuters.

Greece came close to the economic abyss and exit from the euro zone in late June as Tsipras tried to extract concessions which the bloc’s finance ministers refused to grant.

Tsipras backed down last month, accepting terms that are so onerous that the hard left wing of his Syriza party refused to back the bailout in parliament last Friday, and is threatening to break away.

Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, a close Tsipras adviser, said the split had to be dealt with. “The political landscape must clear up. We need to know whether the government has or does not have a majority,” he told state TV channel ERT.

Tsipras got the bailout through parliament only with the support of opposition parties, who said they did so merely to save the nation from financial ruin.

Source: Reuters – Greece makes debt repayment, minister calls for snap polls

---