Greek PM bets on timely debt-swap deal
16 Jan 2012
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos promised a timely debt swap and sent senior officials to Washington to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials to break deadlock in talks over fears of a disorderly default.
The discussions with IMF are due to begin again on Wednesday. The successful conclusion of these talks is necessary if Greece is to receive the next tranche of its bailout funds.
The unexpected breakdown of crucial talks between Greece and its private-sector creditors took the country a step closer to bankruptcy on Friday.
The breakdown was attributed to disagreement over interest payments on the new bonds.
Greece will be facing massive debt repayments on 20 March, and breaking the deadlock and arriving at an agreement was important for averting disorderly default.
The bond swap deal was aimed at cutting Greece's debt pile by €100 billion and most importantly to fulfill the condition for the EU to free up €130 billion bailout payments to the country.
