EU Source: Greek Funding Hole of Nearly Four bn Euros 'Not Enormous'

Twice bailed-out Greece still faces a funding shortfall of some 3.8 billion euros ($5.0 billion) late next year but its troika of international creditors are not overly concerned, a senior EU official said Friday.

"There is a program financing gap of about 3.8 billion to the end of 2014," the European Union source said, adding that in the eyes of the experts involved, this figure was "not enormous."

The Greek bailouts agreed by the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are financed through to mid-2014, the official said.

There have been reports that the rescue faced a shortfall of as much as 10 billion euros and this is the first time an EU official has given an indicative figure of how much might be needed.

Earlier Friday, the 18-nation eurozone gave the green light for the release of another 4.0 billion euros in bailout funds for Greece after it met prograe conditions.

Simon O'Connor, spokesman for EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, said that all the conditions required of Athens in the shape of austerity and civil service cuts "have been successfully completed."

Greece was first bailed out for 110 billion euros in 2010 but when that failed, got a second rescue worth 130 billion euros plus a private sector debt write-off totaling more than 100 billion euros.

In exchange, Athens has had to implement draconian austerity measures, including drastic cuts to pensions and civil service payrolls while the economy has remained stuck in recession for some six years.

The rescue of Greece, and subsequent bailouts for Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus alongside emergency funding for Spanish banks, looked several times as if they would sink the whole eurozone.

Concerns that Greece may yet need even more funds keeps those fears alive, even if they have moderated in recent months.

The senior EU official, who asked not to be named, also spoke of the recapitalization of Greece's banks, citing a better-than-expected 3.0 billion euros in private investment.

This however, still fell short of what Athens was meant to collect through privatization, although the "intention" remained to sell port and other state-owned assets, the official said.

"The risks to program implementation remain high -- but there are also upside risks," the official said.

"If the overall economic situation continues to improve, I am confident we will see more international investment in Greece."

The official said he "wouldn't rule out" the possibility of Athens delivering a "small primary surplus this year" -- meaning it was covering its costs on a running basis -- and this would be a sign that major public and private sector economic restructuring in Greece could eventually deliver.

The target is to get the ratio of Greek public debt down to 120 percent of gross domestic product by the end of 2021, from current unsustainable rates above 170 percent.

That would prove that radical reform of the Greek economy was finally putting it on a more stable footing and so reduce the risk to the wider eurozone.