–Says Deal Will Provide Breathing Space For Needed Reforms By Athens
PARIS (MNI) – The steering committee of the Private
Creditor-Investor Committee for Greece issued the following statement
Friday morning in response to the announcement by the Greek Finance
Ministry that bondholders with 83.5% of privately-held Greek debt had
voluntarily accepted the debt swap offer by Athens (95.7% counting those
who will be required to participate by the activation of collective
action clauses):
“We welcome the results of the voluntary debt exchange by Greece,
announced this morning by the Greek authorities.
The recorded high rate of participation of 83.5% (E172 billion out
of the total E206 PSI eligible bonds) demonstrates the merits of the
understandings reached between the Steering Committee and the Greek
authorities and the Euro Area official sector on February 21 on the
terms and conditions of the voluntary debt exchange package. Of special
significance to investors is the fact that the package includes the use
of English law and a co-financing structure with the EFSF loan to
Greece, as well as GDP-linked securities in the event of higher Greek
growth than anticipated in the economic program. The understandings
underscore the validity of resolving even the most difficult sovereign
debt problems through cooperation and good faith negotiations.
The debt exchange results, and the associated unprecedented upfront
nominal reduction in the privately held Greek debt, will catalyze the
strong financial official sector support for Greece’s new three-year
reform program. We are firmly of the view that the new program will
provide Greece with breathing space to implement the broad range of
fiscal and structural reforms needed to restore output and employment
growth and pave the way toward regaining market access.”
–Paris Newsroom, +331-42-71-55-40; bwolfson@marketnews.com
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