It is widely reported that yesterday the European Commission officially approved Greece’s second €9 billion instalment of the €110 billion eurozone bailout loan. Het Financieele Dagblad reports that Slovakia’s share of €65 million will be paid by other eurozone countries, due to its refusal to take part in the bailout scheme.

EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn is quoted by Le Figaro as saying: “Greece has managed impressive budgetary consolidation during the first half of 2010 and has achieved swift progress with major structural reforms.” Italian news agency Asca notes that a Commission statement reports that some data has still not been provided by the Greek government: “Data on the infra-annual budgetary implementation by social security funds, local government and extra budgetary funds, information on public sector employment, expenditure pending of payment – including arrears – are still incomplete’.

EUobserver notes that the Commission has acknowledged for the first time that austerity measures imposed on Greece have triggered a spiral of social unrest in the country. Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, a spokesman for Commissioner Olli Rehn, said: “We are aware of the social tensions that exist. This impact from these important reforms is certain, we will not play with words with that.”

An article in the Telegraph looks at the deteriorating situation of Greek banks, which lost eight per cent of their entire deposit base between January and May 2010, according to a report published by HSBC. Simon Ward from Henderson Global Investors is quoted, warning that Greek lenders have so far been able to cover their funding gap only through huge loans from the European Central Bank (ECB). “What is worrying is that this is not just Greeks. Portuguese banks borrowed €50 billion in July compared to €41.5 billion in June. Together with Ireland and Spain they have borrowed €387 billion from the ECB,” he added. In a poll of 60 economists conducted by Reuters, 55 respondents predicted that eurozone debt problems would last at least another year and 26 forecasting at least two years. Nineteen economists stated that a US slowdown would be the biggest risk to the eurozone.

Meanwhile, the Parliament magazine reports that Greek MEP Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou has called for a promotional campaign to boost the image of the euro throughout the EU for those “who feel that the euro is an expensive currency to maintain”, especially in the wake of the recent debt crisis in Greece.