“We are looking at the entire Greek debt, expiring through to 2035, not until 2020 as in the previous plan,” the source said, adding that “nothing can be done without the ECB.”
Leaders of the 17 nations sharing the euro are trying to meet a self-imposed Wednesday deadline to agree the terms of a second rescue package for Greece, including a deeper writedown in the value of privately held bonds that the source said amounted to about 200 billion euros.
“We oppose any unilateral move that could be interpreted as a reconstruction of debt,” the source said in Brussels.
A leaked report on Greece’s debt by international inspectors suggests the 109 billion euro rescue package agreed in July is no longer sufficient unless private sector bond holders accept a 60 percent writedown on the debt they hold.
Without such a reduction, Greece would need more than 250 billion euros to be solvent, economists say.
Greece’s worsening debt crisis poses a risk to the euro currency and the international financial system, while European leaders are divided over how to act and Greek spending cuts are pushing the economy deeper into recession.
The government said in early October it would miss its 2011 deficit target.
The source said that whatever emerged from Wednesday’s summit, Greek banks would remain in private hands and would not be nationalized.
