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Greek PM adviser Papademos says deep haircut entails risks
Oct 22 (Reuters) - Restructuring Greece's debt to help the country recover must not veer far from a July rescue deal which involved a voluntary participation of private creditors, a senior adviser to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Saturday.
Lucas Papademos, a former vice-president at the European Central Bank, said that using the July 21 deal as a template would be the most prudent way to tackle the debt crisis.
Imposing deeper haircuts on bondholders could render the scheme non-voluntary, posing risks to the broader euro zone, Papademos wrote in an article in Sunday's To Vima newspaper.
Private investors in Greek government bonds have already offered to accept a net present value loss of 21 percent under a deal struck with euro zone leaders in July.
But Greece's international lenders now estimate that private creditors would have to forgive 60 percent of what Greece owes them to make its debt sustainable by 2020 and contain the July euro zone loan package at 109 billion euros ($151 billion).
"Right now the most effective and prudent path is to apply the agreement European leaders reached in July and strengthen it appropriately," Papademos wrote.
"Any changes to the PSI (private sector involvement) must not put at risk its voluntary character and must not lead to a credit event," he said.
Papademos warned that the consequences of a hard, non-voluntary debt restructuring and a sovereign default would not be limited to the cost of recapitalising the local banking system and supporting pension funds.
He said the effect on confidence, the banking system's liquidity and the real economy would be significant, undermining the process of fiscal stabilisation, especially if the debt restructuring sparked a credit crisis.
"If there is a non-voluntary debt restructuring and default of a euro zone country, the risk that the problems spread to banks may be broad and significant. The recent abrupt increases in the bond yields of euro zone member states send clear, warning signals," Papademos wrote.
Meetings were being held over the weekend to tackle Greece's debt and its impact on the European banking system. On Saturday, finance ministers tried to figure out how to bolster the capital of European banks to cope with any Greek default, and prevent contagion to other heavily indebted countries
Oct 22 (Reuters) - Restructuring Greece's debt to help the country recover must not veer far from a July rescue deal which involved a voluntary participation of private creditors, a senior adviser to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Saturday.
Lucas Papademos, a former vice-president at the European Central Bank, said that using the July 21 deal as a template would be the most prudent way to tackle the debt crisis.
Imposing deeper haircuts on bondholders could render the scheme non-voluntary, posing risks to the broader euro zone, Papademos wrote in an article in Sunday's To Vima newspaper.
Private investors in Greek government bonds have already offered to accept a net present value loss of 21 percent under a deal struck with euro zone leaders in July.
But Greece's international lenders now estimate that private creditors would have to forgive 60 percent of what Greece owes them to make its debt sustainable by 2020 and contain the July euro zone loan package at 109 billion euros ($151 billion).
"Right now the most effective and prudent path is to apply the agreement European leaders reached in July and strengthen it appropriately," Papademos wrote.
"Any changes to the PSI (private sector involvement) must not put at risk its voluntary character and must not lead to a credit event," he said.
Papademos warned that the consequences of a hard, non-voluntary debt restructuring and a sovereign default would not be limited to the cost of recapitalising the local banking system and supporting pension funds.
He said the effect on confidence, the banking system's liquidity and the real economy would be significant, undermining the process of fiscal stabilisation, especially if the debt restructuring sparked a credit crisis.
"If there is a non-voluntary debt restructuring and default of a euro zone country, the risk that the problems spread to banks may be broad and significant. The recent abrupt increases in the bond yields of euro zone member states send clear, warning signals," Papademos wrote.
Meetings were being held over the weekend to tackle Greece's debt and its impact on the European banking system. On Saturday, finance ministers tried to figure out how to bolster the capital of European banks to cope with any Greek default, and prevent contagion to other heavily indebted countries