Eurozone Ministers last night agreed to pay Greece the next €8 billion instalment of the €150 billion bailout loan to help its beleaguered economy avoid default.

We have decided to give Greece the next payment

The ministers also pledged to continue to discuss the leveraging of the zone’s bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), to be in a better position to fight the ongoing sovereign debt crisis.

“We have decided to give Greece the next payment of its bailout deal by mid-December following assurances by the political parties that they will be keeping to their commitments,” the Eurogroup’s President Jean Claude Juncker said during a press conference following a seven-hour meeting.

He said that ministers also discussed the details of two options to increase the firepower of the EFSF. Discussions would now continue during next week’s summit of heads of state in Brussels with the aim of concluding by January.

The options include the issue of partial protection certification insuring some 30 per cent of new sovereign bonds floated on the market.

The meeting, which was also attended for the first time by the new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in his capacity as Finance Minister, reviewed the progress made by Ireland to meet its deficit and debt targets after seeking the EU’s financial assistance to avoid bankruptcy.

It also gave its go ahead to the austerity programmes announced recently by Italy and Belgium to put their public finances in order.

Malta was represented at the meeting by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech who will today be attending the ECOFIN Council meeting for all 27 finance minsters.

The next important decisions regarding the economic crisis are now expected to be taken by EU leaders during their summit next week.

They are expected to be presented with proposals for changes in the EU Treaty aimed at deepening fiscal integration.