Greece Trades Sovereignty for Bailout

Greece on Monday traded sovereignty for a European bailout, agreeing to hand over control of state assets to an independent external trust fund that will privatize them. In exchange, Greece will get approximately $90 billion and be allowed to stay on the euro. Other demands Greece agreed to include a value-added tax, pension changes, new bankruptcy rules, and budget cuts if the government doesn’t meet fiscal targets. The deal “obliged leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to abandon promises of ending austerity and could fracture his government and cause an outcry in Greece,” according to Reuters. Greek lawmakers must pass the terms by Wednesday.