1/09/2012

Greece races clock to avoid default

The Financial Times has this discussion:

. . . a race against time to secure a second financing package from the country’s international creditors if Greece is to avoid a disorderly default in March.
The country must redeem a €14.4bn bond on March 20. Almost all analysts agree it will be unable to do so unless its official creditors approve a second €130bn bail-out package and unless a deal is agreed to cut the country’s debt by imposing a 50 per cent haircut on €206bn of privately held bonds.
Greece has already received about €73bn from the first bail-out package of €110bn, financed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. That package was approved in May 2010 to help the country stave off default.
Government officials hope the terms of the bond exchange, known as private sector involvement, or PSI, will be finalised well in advance of the EU summit on January 30. By the same deadline, the government hopes to have reached an agreement on “conditionality” – the set of economic policies and structural reforms required by the EU, IMF and European Central Bank.
Only when these requirements have been met will the so-called troika of lenders agree to disburse a large amount of funds, estimated at €89bn, in the first quarter of this year. That will include money towards implementing PSI, since private creditors will most likely receive €30bn in cash or equivalent upfront, while Greek banks will also be recapitalised by some €30bn. . . .

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

In light of the previous post about Greece, it doesn't seem that they're racing too hard. Perhaps it's to avoid offending those afflicted with the terrible disability of sloth.

1/09/2012 9:04 PM  
Blogger Zendo Deb said...

Don't hold your breath. That 50% haircut is more like 70% on a net-present-value basis. And the folks who were not happy about 50% are even less happy about 70.

I was surprised to learn that the Euro is only the latest attempt at a currency union in Europe. None of the others worked either.

And if anybody is actually allowed to vote again in Europe, I think it is clear a lot of people would tell Brussels to take a hike.

1/09/2012 9:36 PM  

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