The eurozone bailout fund ESM decided on Friday to hold off the disbursement of a €1 billion loan tranche for Greece to wait for confirmation from Athens it fulfilled the condition of arrears clearance for the release of the money.

An ESM spokesman said Greece made satisfactory progress to meet the conditions for the release of the loan but not quite.

"Confirmation from the Greek authorities is still needed that some payments for arrears clearance are fully executed. This is necessary in order to take the decision on the release of the remaining €1 billion," the spokesman said.

"Therefore the ESM Board of Directors decided today in Paris to postpone its decision on this issue," he said.

The money is available until June 15.

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