Greek debt haircut may exceed 60 pct, says Juncker
Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker late on Monday refused to rule out the possibility of a Greek debt writedown in excess of 50 percent, according to reports on Tuesday.
“I do not rule out a debt cut but one should not think that simply a brutal debt cut would suffice in Greece,» Juncker told ORF Austrian television in an interview on Monday night. «One has to take care that this does not lead to the danger of contagion elsewhere in the eurozone.”
Luxembourg?s prime minister, who leads the group of euro area finance ministers, added that more than 60 percent of Greece?s debt may need to be restructured, saying that ?all strength must be used? to prevent a eurozone country from going bankrupt.
Opposition to a Greek debt writedown bigger than 21 percent is coming from the European Central Bank, which is against any backsliding from the July 21 accord on a second Greek bailout, an ECB official told Bloomberg yesterday. An appeal to ?fully implement all aspects? of the July roadmap was inserted into last week?s monthly policy statement as a warning to Germany, the official said under condition of anonymity.
