'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Greece has avoided imminent bankruptcy after its international creditors finally agreed to give it the money it urgently needs, but the cash-strapped country's economic distress is likely to drag on for years to come.
Greece's race to slice 107 billion euros ($140 billion) off its debt entered the home stretch Thursday, with a government official saying participation in a bond swap deal was already above 75 percent and markets appearing confident of success.
Greek coalition leaders are preparing their responses to a draft deal on steep cutbacks demanded by creditors in return for a 130-billion-euro ($170 billion) bailout that will shield the country from a looming bankruptcy.
European markets responded calmly to Standard & Poor's decision to cut the credit ratings of a number of euro countries as France managed to tap bond market investors Monday despite the loss of its cherished triple-A rating.
"There remains the potential for this deal to fall apart in the medium term, as there are a lot of moving parts and it is a long way away from the permanent fix that the IMF had been insisting upon," said Gary Jenkins, managing director of Swordfish Research. "Instead, it is just one more big kick of the can down the road."
