UPDATE 1-Greek debt swap take-up at 75 pct -report
Wed Sep 7, 2011 4:24am EDT
* Too early to give specific take-up rate-finmin official
*
Greece seeks minimum 90 pct participation rate (Adds finance ministry comment, details)
ATHENS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Private sector participation in a Greek debt swap has so far reached the 75-percent mark, far below a 90 percent target, newspaper Imerisia reported on Wednesday without naming its sources.
Greece last month turned the screws on investors, saying it may not go ahead with the debt swap -- a key part in a second bailout package to stave off the country's bankruptcy -- if holders of less than 90 percent of the
bonds take part.
The International Institute of Finance (IIF), a global banking group that is leading the bond swap talks, said on Tuesday it was confident the plan would eventually garner the necessary investor support.
A Greek
finance ministry official said it was too early to provide a take-up figure. "The process is ongoing, it is premature to give a percentage," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Greece has asked bondholders to declare their interest in taking part in the debt swap by Friday. Greece expects to submit a final bond swap offer to investors in October, with a view to complete the exercise by the end of the same month.
EU leaders agreed on July 21 to extend a second, 109 billion euro bailout to Greece, on top of a 110 billion euros rescue package agreed in May 2010.
Under the plan, private bondholders are supposed to take an average 21 percent loss on their bond portfolios, in net present value terms, as part of attempts to share the burden of the bailout
deal.
The proposal aims to ease Greece's debt burden by swapping bonds with a maturity of up to 10 years for 30- or 15-year bonds with additional guarantees, to make them less risky to hold than original bonds.
Greek and European lenders such as National Bank of Greece (NBGr.AT), France's BNP Paribas , Belgian group Dexia and Germany's Commerzbank are among the biggest holders of Greek bonds.
But concerns over the broader rescue package and Greece's ultimate fate have been worsened by protracted wrangling over the country's repeated fiscal slippages, lack of reform drive and a bilateral deal with Finland to collateralise the latter's bailout contributions.
The IIF had said on Aug 25 that between 60 and 70 percent of private investors have expressed an intention to participate.
