Ministers Meet to Study Fixes on Greek Debt

New York Times
May 6, 2011

New moves to prevent the huge burden of Greek debt from overwhelming the country’s economy were discussed Friday during an unannounced meeting of a small group of European finance ministers, including those from Germany, France and Greece.

After the private gathering, the prime minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the group of euro-area finance ministers, said that Greece’s financial assistance program “does need a further adjustment” and that it would be discussed at the group’s next meeting on May 16.

Mr. Juncker told reporters that European Union officials were “excluding the restructuring option which is discussed heavily in certain quarters of the financial markets,” according to Bloomberg News.

France, Germany, Italy and Spain were represented at the meeting in Luxembourg, which also included the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, and Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Mr. Juncker said.

A spokesman for the Greek finance ministry did not respond to questions about the nature of the talks.

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