Top euro officials eye May agreement on Greek loans

BRUSSELS – Leading European officials hope the deadlock preventing Greece from getting much-needed bailout cash will be broken next month.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs meetings of the eurozone's 19 finance ministers, said Thursday that he hoped to report "the successful conclusion of the second review before the end of next month." Greece has to meet a series of targets to get the money it needs to avoid bankruptcy.

Eurozone finance ministers meet on May 22 to assess Greece's progress. It's been held up over tax, pension and other reforms.

EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici is also optimistic about an agreement that would "then pave the way for the disbursement of funds."

Dijsselbloem told EU lawmakers that this should allow the International Monetary Fund to participate "financially" in the Greek bailout program.