Samaras said on Saturday night that the right to buy back Greece's debt at a reduced price would be a "real easing" of the load for the Greek economy, given that the extension of the repayment period for Greece's 110 billion euro EU/IMF support loan and the reduction of the interest rate agreed by eurozone leaders in Brussels on Friday do not reduce the absolute size of the debt.
Samaras was commenting on a decision by Eurogroup leaders to extend the repayment period for Greece's 110-billion-euro bailout by the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund) to seven and a half years and reduction of the interest rate from 5.2 percent to 4.2 percent during an informal summit in Brussels on Friday.(ANA-MPA)
"At the informal special summit, Greece achieved an extension for repayment of the 110 billion euros and a reduction in interest. The former (extension) had already been given to Greece by a decision of the eurogroup summit of November 28, while the latter (interest reduction) had already been clarified days ago in statements by European Commissioner Olli Rehn and other officials," Samaras pointed out, noting that ND had advanced both aspects systematically for some time in its contacts with European officials.
source: ANA-MPA
