Barroso says Greece must trim debt to survive
Greece will have to curb its debt if it is to survive the crisis, the chief of the European Commission said Thursday.
“If Greece is going to have success… it’s better to reduce the debt than anything else,» Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels according to reports Thursday.
Prime Minister George Papandreou, who is traveling to Brussels Thursday for a series of meetings, said on Wednesday that Greece is trying to find ways to lighten its debt load ahead of a European Union leaders? summit later this month.
During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Papandreou said that the government is involved in negotiations with the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund about changing the private sector involvement (PSI) that was agreed on July 21.
That foresaw a haircut of 21 percent for Greek bond holders but this figure could now become as high as 50 percent, four eurozone officials who wished to remain anonymous told Reuters Wednesday.
?We are negotiating in every way we can to reduce our debt,? the Greek prime minister said.
Barroso on Thursday said that the European Commission would consider a change to the EU treaties, seen as a prerequisite for issuing a eurozone bond.
But ?it would be a mistake to see [treaty reform] as the solution now,» the Portuguese official said.
