Greece and its eurozone partners formally launched talks on July 17 designed to lead to a third bailout programme for Athens that could total 86 billion euros over three years.

Greek public debt reached 168.8 pct of the country’s GDP in the first quarter of 2015, remaining the highest among EU member-states, Eurostat said on Wednesday.

Parliament passed a bill containing the second package of prior actions demanded by Greece’s creditors, early on Thursday morning, with 230 votes for and 63 against.