Sure is nice of those bond holders to voluntarily accept a loss of more than
70 percent.
Bond Payment
Open questions involve how much more aid Greece needs, how much more austerity is required, and how to involve the European Central Bank in the debt swap. Facing a 14.5 billion-euro ($19.1 billion) bond payment on March 20 and general elections as soon as April, Papademos must heed calls for tighter austerity to complete the talks on a second aid package in time. Venizelos said everything needed to be completed by tomorrow evening.
The discussions have led to tussles among European central bankers and political leaders. The rescue blueprint includes a loss of more than 70 percent for bondholders in a voluntary debt exchange and loans that will probably exceed the 130 billion euros now on the table.
Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said Greek debt talks are a “make or break” issue and that a collapse of Greece’s economy would open a “Pandora’s box” that would kill a euro-area recovery.
“We are in a make-or-break situation and Greece plays a very important role -- and if we find a solution in the next few days, I think we’re on the right track,” Ackermann told a panel today at the Munich Security Conference. The executive said earlier that he’ll fly to Athens tonight as talks go on over the swap involving Greek debt with a face value of about 200 billion euros.
Article at Bloomberg.com