Reuters
October 27, 2011
Greece vowed on Thursday to press ahead with economic reforms to capitalize on an EU deal to slash the country's debt, despite widespread anger among citizens at the prospect of years of painful belt-tightening demanded by foreign lenders.
In a bid to calm fears among Greece's 11 million people, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos promised there would not be further cuts to wages and pensions as a result of the agreement sealed in Brussels to halve the 200 billion euros of Greek debt in the hands of private bondholders.
"We need to push ahead with structural reforms," Venizelos told a news conference, appealing for unity. "We must not lose this chance. It's too big."
The minister said that negotiations now needed to take place with banks to determine their participation in the bond swap to slash Greece's debt mountain, forecast to top 160 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.
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