News

Eurozone leaders and bankers at dawn Thursday reached agreement for a 50 percent haircut of the Greek debt after marathon negotiations in Brussels that lasted throughout the night.

The agreement will shave off approximately 100 billion euros from the Greek debt.

Greek prime minister George Papandreou told a press conference afterwards that “we achieved our goal, despite the unprecedented adversities”,adding that the decisions taken allow Greece to “close the accounts with the past”.

He said the agreement has all the “pros” of the July 21 eurozone summit agreement but not its “cons”, while it also eases the burden from the Greek people and transfers it the banks, ans also spoke of a fair distribution of the weight.

Commenting on criticism of supervision of the country, Papandreou said that the lightening of the debt burden, and the primary surpluses to be created, guarantee that “we will depart from dependencies slowly but surely”.

“Let’s put an end to the propaganda and facile mudslinging…We are fighting for the country…Let’s stop devouring our own flesh,” the premier said.

Papandreou also assured that the social security funds’ insured workers and pensioners can rest assured about their pensions, as the agreement reached does not touch pensions but, on the contrary, through the easing of the servicing of the debt interest, facilities social policy.

http://www.amna.gr/