Deal Reached Over Greece's Debts

All 16 eurozone countries have backed a financing plan to help debt-laden Greece, which will include IMF money, reports BBC News.

The safety net would total up to 22 billion EUR. It would apply only if market lending to Greece dried up. Eurozone nations would grant coordinated bilateral loans, totaling some two-thirds of the funding, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy (pictured), said the deal was significant "not just for Greece, but for the stability of the eurozone."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was "extremely happy that we've reached this deal," calling it "a right decision."

The joint eurozone and IMF bailout program envisages strict conditions and requires the unanimous agreement of the 16 eurozone nations to release loans. The agreement included no numbers, but officials in Brussels — speaking on condition of anonymity — said the total package would be some 22 billion euros.

A draft of the plan, seen by the BBC, says the Greek government "has not requested any financial support," so "no decision has been taken to activate" the mechanism yet.

"We hope that it [the bailout mechanism] will not have to be activated," Van Rompuy said late on Thursday, after the deal was agreed, adding that the deal should tell markets to "have confidence that the eurozone will never abandon Greece."

The deal still needs to be backed by the rest of the 27-member EU.