At their meeting on 22 January, euro area finance ministers reached a political agreement on the third review of Greece’s economic adjustment programme, based on the conclusion that the Greek authorities have implemented nearly all reforms required under the review. The agreement enables the Eurogroup Working Group and the governing bodies of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to take the steps necessary for the disbursement of the fourth tranche of the ESM programme amounting to EUR 6.7 billion, once the few remaining conditions have been fully completed. In other news, the Eurogroup appointed Hans Vijlbrief as the new President of the Eurogroup Working Group, for a term of two years. Vijlbrief, who has been serving as Treasurer-General at the Dutch Ministry of Finance succeeds Thomas Wieser, who has presided over the group since January 2012. Ministers also held a follow-up discussion on the further steps towards deepening of the EMU, were informed about the results of the 7th post-programme surveillance (PPS) mission to Portugal, discussed the draft Council recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area for 2018, and exchanged views on the International Monetary Fund's preliminary findings from its interim mission relating to the Article IV consultation with the euro area.