The European Commission says Greece has met qualifying conditions for the next €9 billion of euro zone financial aid it is due to receive in September.
'The Commission considers that the broadly positive evaluation of the conditions imposed on Greece opens the way for the next phase of lending,' it said in a statement.
The Commission expects euro zone member states to approve the next stage and proceed with the transfer of funds.
Of the €9 billion, €6.5 billion will come from euro zone countries and €2.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A joint mission of the IMF and the Commission to Greece said on August 5 that the country had made substantial progress in reining in its budget deficit, but needed to push on with reforms to restore investor confidence and return to markets next year as planned.
Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj told a news briefing the Commission did not expect the pay-out to be hampered by Slovakia, whose parliament rejected earlier in August the country's participation in the emergency lending programme.
Slovakia did not participate in the first tranche of emergency euro zone aid for Greece either. The next tranche of money for Athens is to be approved by euro zone finance ministers at a special meeting on September 7.
