Greek PM confident debt swap will be clinched in time

Athens needs a deal with the private sector, the EU and the IMF to avoid going bankrupt when a major bond redemption comes due in late March, but talks with its creditor banks broke down without an agreement on Friday.
“There is a little pause in these discussions. But I am confident that they will continue and we will reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable in time,” Papademos said according to a transcript of an interview with CNBC. Under the bailout terms agreed in October, Greek privately held debt would be reduced by half, so that, together with structural reforms, the overall debt to GDP ratio of Greece would fall to 120 percent in 2020 from 160 percent now.
Inspectors from the EU, the IMF and the ECB, due in Athens on Tuesday for talks on a second, 130-billion-euro bailout, have warned they need the deal with the private sector to achieve that debt reduction goal before they agree to give more aid. – Reuters.