Parliament set to approve debt swap scheme
Greece’s MP’s were debating on Thursday emergency legislation to approve a large debt restructuring scheme that will reduce the country’s debt by more than 100 billion euros.
A vote on the proposed deal, which was approved by a parliamentary committee late on Wednesday, will be held later in the day. Greece’s coalition government was expected to approve the scheme with a comfortable majority.
The legislation contains the collective action clauses (CACs) that could be activated if Greece fails to convince enough of its bondholders to take part in the voluntary swap.
Several other pieces of legislation must be approved by the House before next week, as eurozone finance ministers are expected to meet on Wednesday or Thursday to rubber-stamp the deal to give Greece another 130 billion euros in loans. The meeting will take place ahead of a European Union leaders? summit in Brussels on March 1 and 2.
?If we finish our job in the next two months and if we then put in place the program successfully, we will overcome the crisis,? Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said on Wednesday, forecasting stable growth in 2014 and 2015.
