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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Greece Update: Eurozone finance ministers meet Monday

by Calculated Risk on 11/25/2012 01:08:00 PM

The eurozone finance ministers are meeting on Monday, and trying to reach an agreement to disburse more funds to Greece.

From the Financial Times: Greece upbeat about signing debt deal

Eurozone finance ministers will make another attempt on Monday ... to settle differences over debt relief measures for Athens and give a green light to disburse up to €44bn of aid.

The stumbling blocks to a deal, in addition to Berlin’s reluctance to accept drastic interest rate cuts, include opposition by some eurozone members to returning profits from the European Central Bank’s purchases of Greek bonds, and a gloomy assessment of Greece’s growth prospects until 2020 by the IMF.
excerpt with permission
And from Bloomberg: Euro Ministers Take Third Swing at Clearing Greek Payment
Finance chiefs from the 17-member single currency return to Brussels tomorrow ...

Euro-area finance ministers held a conference call yesterday to prepare for the Brussels meeting. A breakthrough hinges on coming up with 10 billion euros ($13 billion) through reductions in interest rates charged by creditors and a debt buyback financed by bailout funding. The gap emerged when the finance chiefs agreed this month to give Greece two more years to meet targets.
I expect an agreement will be reached soon that will buy more time.