GREEK BAILOUT!: EU FINANCE ministers GIVE Greece $172 BILLION to AVOID default [GLOBAL FIREWALL?]

• published: 26 Mar 2014
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The eurozone group has backed Greece's second bailout of 130bn euros ($171bn; £109bn) pending a contribution from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Finance ministers from the 17-strong currency bloc had been meeting in Brussels to approve the package. The meeting followed Greece swapping most of its privately-held bonds with new ones worth less than half their original value. Greece's debt-to gross domestic product ratio is also expected to fall to 117%. The chairman of the eurozone group of finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, who is also the prime minister of Luxembourg, made the prediction after the meeting, saying it would reach that level in 2020. Mr Juncker said: "We welcome the [IMF's] proposal to recommend a 28bn euros [contribution] to the Greek facility. We look forward to the discussion and the decision by the IMF board on March 15." He said he was confident the IMF would agree the money but that he was "still dependent on that decision". "Against this background, we approved the launch of the second programme, pending the completion of the national procedures." The Greek deal with banks and other lenders is the largest restructuring of government debt in history, clearing the way for the country to receive a bailout worth 130bn euros. Under the debt swap, banks and other financial institutions have agreed to exchange their existing Greek government debt for new bonds, which are worth much less and pay a lower rate of interest. The deal involves 172bn euros' worth of bonds, according to the Greek government website, with investors taking a total loss of up to 74%. The new Greek bonds slumped in value on Monday, trading at 71-75% lower than face value on the secondary markets. New Greek bonds with 30-year maturities issued with yields of 3.65% were yielding 13.57% on Monday, with investors demanding a far bigger percentage return on their investments. Some lenders who lost money as a result of the swap will be compensated after the International Swaps and Derivatives Association classified the deal as a "credit event", triggering insurance payments. Some investors bought a type of insurance against that happening. Those payouts could be worth in total up to $3.2bn, only a small fraction of the 105bn euros wiped-off Greece's debt burden. In another development on Monday, lawyers in Germany representing 110 Greek bond holders said they had formed a class action group to sue banks and the Greek state following the bond swap. A Hamburg legal firm said most of the investors had spent 100,000-500,000 euros on Greek paper, with the highest investment reaching 3m euros. It did not name any of the banks it might target and the suit is likely to be filed in Washington. It will claim banks failed to advise clients properly about the risks of Greek paper and it will seek compensation. TAGS: CapitalWatch 2012 Eurozone finance ministers granted Greece second bailout $172 billion package aimed helping country avoid default concerns austerity measures growth Georgetown University EU ambassador US financial economy economic collapse crisis structural reform gold silver oil fuel energy resources market trade jobs employment unemployment homeless mortgage stock exchange trend trending deal debt investment banks bankers NWO globalisation globalist government global firewall plan IMF finance yahoo, how to finance your money, finance 101, finance 101 wharton, finance 101 lecture, finance 1, personal finance 101, finance 240 sdsu, finance 201, finance 2014, finance 2, bitcoin finance 2014, finance 301, finance 5 program, finance 5, american economy animation, american economy collapse, american economy collapse 2014, when will american economy collapse, american economy documentary, american economy explained, american economy history, american economy may 2014, american economy shrinks, american economy today, how the american economy works, american economy 1950s, american economy 2014, global economy animation, global economic collapse, global economy documentary, global economy explained, global economy journal, global economy kagundu, global economy mean, global economy news, global economy outlook, global economy pdf, global economy ryan harvey, global economy reset, how does the global economy work, global economy zimmer, global economy 2014,