BRUSSELS: Eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday suspended debt relief measures for bailed-out Greece in response to extra spending on pensions announced by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
"The institutions have concluded that the actions of the Greek government appear to not be in line with our agreements," said a spokesman for Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the 19-nation eurozone club which oversees Greece's massive 86-billion euro bailout.
There is "no unanimity now for implementing short-term debt measures," he added.
The Athens stock exchange index lost over three percent in response to the announcement.
Eurozone finance ministers on December 5 approved new debt relief measures to alleviate Greece's colossal national debt in the wake of the bailout, its third since 2010.
But Tsipras three days later announced new spending measures to help pensioners and the Greek islands that have been on the frontline of Europe's migrant influx.
The setback throws even more confusion on Greece's current bailout as the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund battle over how far to push Athens on implementing more austerity policy reforms.
The IMF on Monday angered the Europeans by arguing that Greece does not need more austerity at this time, and in fact spending cuts have gone too far already.
But the Europeans are keeping a hardline stance against Athens, led by Berlin's powerful finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble as key elections approach next year in Germany and the Netherlands, where bailout fatigue is fanning voter discontent.
Dijsselbloem's spokesman said that the institutions overseing the bailout would report back to the finance ministers in January.
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