June 3, 2011
European Union and International Monetary Fund officials today complete a review of Greece’s plan for 78 billion euros ($113 billion) in asset sales and austerity measures as they prepare the nation’s second bailout in little more than a year.
The assessment caps a week when Greece’s fiscal crisis worsened enough for Moody’s Investors Service to raise the probability of a default to 50 percent. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will discuss the findings at 3 p.m. on a visit to his Luxembourg counterpart, Jean-Claude Juncker, who leads the group of euro-area finance ministers.
“The medium-term plan is largely completed and some technical details remain,” George Petalotis, Papandreou’s spokesman, said yesterday. “There were no major hiccups.”
The lifeline may incorporate a role for bondholders as European leaders try again to prevent the euro area’s first sovereign default. Their May 2010 rescue failed to stem an investor exodus from Greece and the Greek government now faces a funding gap of 30 billion euros next year with 10-year borrowing cost above 16 percent, Europe’s highest debt load and the economy in a three-year slump.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment