SYDNEY (MNI) – Greek Prime Minister said he might use legislation
to ensure creditors will take losses on their holdings if no agreement
is reached when talks resume later Wednesday, the New York Times
reported on its website.
The newspaper cited an interview with Prime Minister Lucas
Papademos recorded on Monday night where he said he would consider
legislation to force creditors to take losses.
Papademos said that if Greece did not receive 100% participation in
the program in which boldholders will voluntarily write down $130 billon
from Greece’s debt, the country would consider passing a law to require
them to take losses.
“It is something that has to be considered in the light of
expectations about the degree of the participation to be achieved,”
Papademos said, according to the paper. “It cannot be excluded. It is
contingent on the percentage,” the paper quoted Papademos as saying.
The Institute of International Finance, which represents banks
involved in the proposed Greek debt swap, said Tuesday that negotiations
should resume on Wednesday with “a sense of urgency.”
IIF Managing Director Charles Dallara and Jean Lemierre, special
advisor to the chairman of BNP Paribas, will return to Athens Wednesday
to resume talks with the government, the institute said in a press
release.
Greece faces a hard deadline on March 20, when E14.4 billion in
bond redemptions come due. In order to make the payment, the country
needs to have an agreement by private investors to reduce the value of
their Greek debt holdings by 50%.
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