Initial Agreement On Greek Bailout Could Come This Week

Wall Street Journal
January 30, 2012

An initial agreement on a new bailout loan for debt-ridden Greece could be reached as early as this week, and then discussed at a special summit of euro-zone leaders next month, officials from the euro zone and International Monetary Fund said Monday.

Final agreement on a proposed 50% write-down in the face value of debt held by Greece's private-sector creditors is now waiting for an updated report from the IMF on Greece's debt sustainability, these officials said.

Greece and its private-sector creditors have been edging closer to a long-awaited agreement over a €100 billion ($132 billion) debt write-down on government bonds, after bondholders indicated they may accept lower yields on restructured Greek debt. This is part of a larger bailout in which the IMF and the European Union will also participate. Representatives of Greece's so-called troika of creditors—the European Union, the IMF and the European Central Bank—are in Athens, and will put together a separate report on which the IMF will base its sustainability analysis.

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