Euro-area finance ministers reached a provisional deal intendedto keep aid flowing to Greece in return for a commitment tocontinued economic reforms, buying time to work out the detail oflonger-term Greek financing.

Talks in Brussels between officials from the 19 euro-areafinance officials concluded Friday evening with an agreement toextend bailout funds to Greece for four months. In return, onMonday Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's government must submit alist of reform measures it will undertake. Finance chiefs will thendecide whether the Greek measures go far enough.

“It's an important first step,” Irish Finance Minister MichaelNoonan told reporters after the meeting. “We'll see if it's enoughon Monday night, Tuesday morning.”

U.S. stocks rose, sending benchmark indexes to records, on theprospect of an easing in the standoff between Greece and itscreditors, a breakthrough that reduces the immediate risk ofTsipras's government running out of cash as early as next month.The euro swung between gains and losses as the hurdles still aheadbecame clear.

The text of the agreement allows Greece to lower previouslyagreed targets on reaching a primary budget surplus, potentiallyfreeing up some money to meet at least some of Tsipras's electionpledges. A Greek official said that tax increases and cuts topensions had been averted in the accord.

“Our commitments are commitments we would want to make anyway,”Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters. “Sometimeslike Ulysses you need to tie yourself to a mast in order to getwhere you're going and avoid the sirens.”

Troika Ratification

The deal removes the threat of the European Central Bank (ECB)pulling the plug on the nation's banks, a prospect that would haverisked Greece crashing out of the euro. The next major financialhurdle comes next month, when the government must service 2.2billion euros (US$2.5 billion) of debt to the InternationalMonetary Fund, with the treasury's coffers nearly exhausted.

The outcome may still prove politically bruising for Tsipras andhis Syriza party since the Greek reform measures are subject tovalidation by the IMF, the ECB, and the European Commission, theinstitutions collectively known as the “troika,” from which Tsiprasvowed to break free.

“We agreed that the institutions examine exactly whether the newlist corresponds to the requirements of the program,” said AustrianFinance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling. “If the institutions dothat, we will approve the extension of the program.” If they deemthe steps to be insufficient, a finance ministers' meeting will becalled “immediately,” he said.

Finance ministers will hold a conference call Tuesday to discussthe Greek response, after which the deal would be put to nationalparliaments next week.

While a deal might go some way to help repair the frayed tiesbetween Greece and Germany, the biggest European contributor toGreece's 240 billion-euro bailouts and the chief proponent ofeconomic reforms in return, it must still be approved by Germanlawmakers.

–With assistance from Marcus Bensasson and Nikos Chrysoloras inAthens and James G. Neuger, Corina Ruhe, Rainer Buergin, RadoslavTomek, Karl Stagno Navarra and Jeff Black in Brussels.

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