ATHENS (AFP) ― Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos on Friday said his country faced “acute economic dangers” without eurozone loans and the conclusion of debt write-down talks that were suspended earlier in the day.
“We are fully aware of how critical the situation is,” Papademos told a dinner hosted by the Greek-German chamber of commerce.
“Until the (debt write-down talks) are complete and the new loan agreement is voted, the country continues to face acute economic dangers,” he said.
Papademos was speaking shortly after a global bank group said it had “paused” talks with Greece on a major debt writedown after failing to agree with the government on the terms of the deal.
“Under the circumstances, discussions with Greece and the official sector are paused for reflection on the benefits of a voluntary approach,” the Institute of International Finance said.
It added that the talks had failed to produce a “constructive consolidated response by all parties.”
The proposed deal would have seen banks taking a voluntary 50-percent “haircut” on their Greek debt, which would remove about 100 billion euros ($127 billion) from Athens’ massive debt burden that currently exceeds 350 billion.
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Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos. (AP-Yonhap News) |
The voluntary writedown, part of a eurozone bailout offering another 130 billion in loans to Greece, would be a major step toward avoiding a fully blown default in March.
The IIF statement was sharply more negative than earlier comments from the Greek government, which said that talks would continue next week.
A government official had earlier told reporters that the talks “will probably continue on Wednesday” following a meeting between the Greek government and senior bank negotiators.
“There are some details to be worked out,” the official had added.
Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos had previously met with Charles Dallara, IIF managing director and Jean Lemierre, a senior advisor to France’s BNP Paribas bank.
Greek media on Friday reported that a disagreement has surfaced on the interest rate of new government bonds that would be issued to credit holders in return for the maturing debt being phased out under the planned deal.
