Greece secures new bailout

Eurozone finance ministers have ended months of uncertainty and averted an imminent debt default by Greece by approving a second bailout deal for the debt-laden country.“After a meeting of at least 13 hours, we have reached a far-reaching agreement on Greece’s new program and private sector involvement (PSI) that will lead to a significant debt reduction for Greece,” Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker told at a press conference early Tuesday after a prolonged meeting of eurozone finance ministers.The bailout plan, which is estimated to amount to 130 billion euros (172 billion U.S. dollars), doled out in tranches until 2014, was aimed at bringing down Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 120.5 percent by 2020 from the current 160 percent, Juncker told reporters.DEBT SWAP“Greece will launch a bond exchange offer in the coming days. And, given the balanced agreement reached with the creditor group led by the International Institute of Finance managing director (Charles Dallara) and the fact that the package delivers debt sustainability for Greece, we expect a high participation rate,” he said.This second bailout package, designed by the “troika” of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union and the European Central Bank, will enable Greece to repay bonds totalling 14.5 billion euros (19.2 billion dollars) which come due on March 20, avoiding a default and a potential exit from the European single currency zone.Private sector holders of Greek debt were expected to accept a reduction of 53.5 percent on the face value of their bonds as part of a debt exchange that involved about 200 billion euros (265 billion dollars), Juncker said.