ATHENS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A new system for the protection of borrowers' homes from foreclosure was voted into law by a large majority in the Greek parliament on Friday, garnering the support of both the government and the main opposition deputies.
The final text of the bill that was adopted provides for somewhat stricter eligibility criteria than the original draft tabled in parliament on Tuesday in order to meet the requirements of the country's creditors, said Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis on Thursday.
Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that the passing of the new protection framework is now expected to secure the approval by the April 5 Eurogroup finance ministers' meeting of the disbursement of just under 1 billion euros (1.12 billion U.S. dollars) to Athens as a means of easing the country's national debt.
The new law offers protection from repossession to debtors with mortgage or corporate loans secured on their primary residence using specific criteria related to their income, total property, debt amount and main residence value.
The main change to the criteria introduced in the bill concerns the reduction of the maximum level of dues from corporate loans to 100,000 euros (112,000 U.S. dollars) from the original ceiling of 130,000 euros.
Compared to the previous protection system that expired at the end of February, the new one narrows considerably the pool of borrowers who can claim protection from foreclosure so as to leave strategic defaulters out of it. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)
