b********2
发帖数: 5191 | 1 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/greece-170b-bailout-reduce-debt-0
BRUSSELS (AP) -- After more than 12 hours of talks, the countries that use
the euro reached an agreement early Tuesday to hand Greece euro130 billion (
$170 billion) in additional bailout loans to save it from a potentially
disastrous default next month.
The deal is expected to bring Greece's debt down to 120.5 percent of gross
domestic product by 2020 — that's around the maximum that the International
Monetary Fund and the eurozone consider sustainable.
The euro surged as the news of a deal broke early Tuesday. The accord should
take some pressure off the 17-country currency union that has been battling
a serious debt crisis for two years.
Without the deal, Greece was facing a potentially calamitous default next
month and possibly being forced from the eurozone. The talks stretched into
the early hours of Tuesday as ministers wrangled over how to cut Greece's
debt to a level that it could eventually pay back while not raising their
own commitments.
In the end, the country's private creditors were asked to take substantially
more losses on their holdings than previously anticipated, cutting Greece's
debt by an estimated euro107 billion.
"It's no exaggeration to say that today is a historic day for the Greek
economy," said Greek Premier Lucas Papademos, who rushed to the meeting to
lend weight to his country's pleas for help.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the
meetings of eurozone finance ministers, said Greece's private investors —
mostly banks and investment funds — have been asked to take a face value
loss of 53.5 percent on their bonds.
On top of that, Greece's public creditors — central banks and the eurozone
countries — also agreed to give Greece a break on its debt.
The eurozone countries will cut the interest that Greece has to pay for its
first package of bailout loans to 1.5 percentage points over market rates
from between 2 percentage points to 3 percentage points currently, cutting
both its debt load and limiting the need for new rescue loans.
At the same time, the European Central Bank and the national central banks
in the 17 countries that use the euro will also forego profits on their
Greek debt holdings, again reducing the costs for Greece.
EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn says Greece's new compliance with
the terms of a new bailout will be ensured by a separate account containing
enough money service its debt for three months.
That close monitoring was demanded by some members of the eurozone who are
frustrated that Greece has not always enacted painful reforms and budget
cuts on time. |
|
