Greek parliament narrowly passes reform bill agreed with lenders

The government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras narrowly pushed a reform vote through parliament Thursday, AFP reported. Two lawmakers of the government camp refused to support the bill, but the defections did not derail the vote as 153 government MPs in the 300-seat chamber still approved the reform legislation. The reforms were agreed with the country’s international lenders earlier this week. The main sticking point centered around easing restrictions to evict homeowners who have fallen into arrears on their mortgages. The breakthrough was a formula for providing some overly indebted homeowners protection from foreclosure. cep economist Matthias Kullas said he hoped the compromise would not negatively impact on bank lending in the future.