Eurozone crisis explained

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Eurozone ministers have agreed to cut Greece's debts by a further 40bn euros ($51bn; £32bn), as well as releasing 44bn in bailout money and aid.

A few weeks earlier, they had also agreed to give the government in Athens two more years to cut its overspending.

That decision came as Greece's parliament approved a budget for 2013 that involves 9.4bn euros of spending cuts, a budget that triggered mass public protests in Athens.

The delay in releasing the latest bailout money was largely due to wrangling between eurozone lenders and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over whether and by how much to cut Greece's debt, which will inevitably grow even more if Athens continues overspending for longer than previously planned.

Crisis jargon buster
Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:
AAA-rating
The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is minuscule.