Associated Press/Seattle Times
April 12, 2011
Greece's finance minister ruled out any restructuring of his country's crippling debt burden Wednesday but warned that even more budget cutbacks are needed to achieve EU targets over the coming years.
Greece avoided bankruptcy last year with a euro110 billion ($160 billion) rescue loan package from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. In return, the Socialist government slashed pensions and civil servant salaries, while increasing taxes and retirement ages.
But many analysts believe the country will eventually be forced to restructure its debt - which means easing the terms of its loan repayments, to the detriment of international creditors - regardless of whether it implements all the reforms it has promised.
Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said this "is a position that has quite a few supporters, analysts. It is a position with which the government does not agree."
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