EU tells Greece: We'll have that €7bn to you by Monday

A senior European Union official has said that a way has been found to get Greece more than €7bn in short-term cash.

Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU Commission’s vice president for the euro, said the 28-country bloc has approved €7.16bn of bridge financing for Greece and that the money will come from funds in the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism.

In a tweet, Mr Dombrovskis said the money should reach Greece by Monday.

EU28 approve the bridge financing for #Greece of € 7.16 bn of funds under the EFSM. This will allow for money to reach #Greece by Monday.

— Valdis Dombrovskis (@VDombrovskis) July 17, 2015

Greece has a €4.2bn payment due to the European Central Bank on Monday.

Without the bridge financing it would not have been able to make the payment.