Monday July 11, 2011

Fresh Greece crisis talks

Financial crisis: The entrance to the head office of the National Bank of Greece in Athens. Eurozone leaders will start fresh talks today on a second financial aid package. — EPA

Vocabulary: Greek crisis

BRUSSELS: Eurozone leaders head into fresh talks today to craft a new rescue package for Greece hoping to bridge widening splits （分歧） over private sector involvement as Europe's debt crisis threatens to spiral （盘旋上升）.

After a tumultuous （动乱的，嘈杂的;喧嚣的；热烈的） week that saw debt contagion (传染，蔓延) hit Italian banks and Spanish bonds, and borrowing costs peak （达到最高值） for eurozone struggler Ireland, finance ministers from the 17-nation area meet from 1300 GMT （Greenwich Mean Time 格林尼治标准时间）. Their counterparts from the full EU 27 will join them tomorrow.

Gathered just a week after plucking （解救；拔） Athens from default （违约; 拖欠债务） this summer clearing a 12-billion-euro (US$17bil) slice （大幅度削减；大量降低） due from its first 2010 bailout （救助） eurozone leaders have delayed a final decision on a second rescue until September. Observers are not expecting a quick fix at this week's talks.

Instead, it will focus on how to get banks to bear a fair share of involvement in a second Greek bailout and in such as a way as to avoid it being interpreted as a credit default that would ripple （涟漪；逐渐扩散） across the single currency zone.

The prickly （棘手的，难处理的；多刺的） issue has exposed sharp splits in the euro-front, and comes days ahead of much-awaited July 15 data on European bank stress tests.

Differences that flew into the open after a market-rattling decision last week by Standard & Poor's (S&P) ratings agency needed to be addressed swiftly, EU sources said.

“We will have to weed out （清除） the different ideas,” one source said. “We cannot delay, we need to be on the right track to be ready for September.”

European leaders have been working for weeks on drawing private bondholders into a second rescue of Greece tipped almost as big as last year's 110-billion-euro bailout, either by voluntarily buying new Greek bonds when current bonds are due, or swapping （交换） them for new, longer-maturing bonds.

Touching off （引起, 触发某事） a powder-keg （炸药桶） response, S&P poured cold water on a proposal from France, for private creditors （债主） to opt to replace Greek debt about to mature with new 30-year bonds.

French banks hold a sizeable proportion of Greek debt.

Such a debt rollover （转滚法(用旧债券购买新债券)） “could result in a selective default for Greece,” said S&P, meaning Greece would be technically in default, even if the rescheduling was voluntary.

The hotly contested view undermined weeks of efforts while raising fresh calls from some governments to force the private sector to join taxpayers in rescuing Greece whether or not this came down to a default. - AFP

rescue package

pluck （解救；拔） Athens from default （违约; 拖欠债务）

bailout （救助）

amid widenging split

bridge widening splits （分歧） over

debt contagion (传染，蔓延)

eurozone

the single currency zone

a credit default

prickly （棘手的，难处理的；多刺的） issue

a market-rattling decision

private bondholder

swap （交换） them for new, longer-maturing bonds.

touchoff （引起, 触发某事） a powder-keg （炸药桶） response

creditors （债主）

hold a sizeable proportion of Greek debt.