BRUSSELS -- Euro zone finance ministers will not sign off on a second bailout package for Greece today, Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said Thursday.
Heading into talks with his euro zone counterparts, he said finance ministers need to know whether Greece has made progress toward its economic goals before making a final decision on the EUR130 billion package.
"It's not certain yet. We have to assess whether or not effective prior actions have been taken yet for the full amount," he said.
De Jager said the finance ministers also need to know that Greece has successfully concluded its debt restructuring, which involves a debt swap with its private creditors.
"So today is not the day where we will definitely agree with the final bailout package for Greece," he said.
The ministers are expected to meet again later this month, at which point they could sign off on the package.
He also said the Netherlands is not in the same situation as Greece.
Earlier Thursday, the Dutch bureau for economic analysis said the country's deficit will exceed the euro zone limit again in 2013.
The bureau expects the budget deficit to come in at 4.5% of gross domestic product in both 2012 and 2013, exceeding the 3% euro-zone limit by EUR9 billion. The new estimate was even bleaker than the December forecast of a 4.1% shortfall.
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