[Reuters] Euro zone ministers send Greek PSI offer back for lower coupon-sources
BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance
ministers sent back for further negotiations a debt
restructuring offer from private Greek bondholders to achieve a
lower average coupon on new Greek bonds as well as other aspects
of the proposal, euro zone officials said.
"The ministers have sent the offer back for negotiations,"
one euro zone official with knowledge of the talks said on
Monday as euro zone ministers were meeting in Brussels.
The offer, which had been negotiated between the Greek
government and private investors grouped in the Institute of
International Finance (IIF) last week, assumed an average coupon
on the new Greek bonds of four percent.
The new bonds, likely to have maturity of 30 years, would
replace existing Greek debt.
"The ministers want a lower coupon than presented in the
offer," the official said.
A second official involved in the ministerial talks
confirmed the proposal from the IIF had been sent back for
reconsideration of the coupon.
Apart from the coupon, euro zone finance ministers also
asked the negotiators to look at other aspects of the deal,
including the size of the losses for private investors.
The first official also said that there were no talks to
increase the 130 billion euros of official financing for Greece
under a second bailout package agreed in October.
The official said the target was still to achieve Greek debt
sustainability in 2020 with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 120 percent,
but that the figure was no longer very precise, and could be
slightly higher.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Rex Merrifield)
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Keywords: EUROZONE GREECE/PSI URGENT)