Greek PM, IFF head conclude meeting
A fresh meeting between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the head of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Charles Dallara regarding the pressing issue of private sector involvement in the Greek debt crisis ended on Friday afternoon.
The talks, which also included Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and top IFF official Jean Lemierre, were expected to resume at 7.30 p.m. on Friday following a tele-conference with eurozone officials which was scheduled to take place in the afternoon.
“The atmosphere of the talks is good, they are continuing today and we hope they will be concluded very soon,» government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told a private local station, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
According to a Skai report, the Greek debt’s haircut is expected to reach 65 percent with an interest rate set at 3.5 percent for new bonds.
“The new bond will likely have a 30-year maturity and a grace period of 10 years. It will have a stepped-up coupon structure which will average out in the area of 4 percent,» a banking official close to the talks told Reuters.
An agreement regarding the private sector involvement plan, known as PSI+, is needed in order for Greece to receive a fresh tranche of a bailout loan that would cover a 14.5 billion bond repayment maturing in March.
Earlier in the day, Venizelos concluded a meeting with troika representatives — officials from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — where issues such as the 13th and 14th salaries in the private sector were expected to be raised.
