Greece completes bond swap, participation at 96.9%

Page last updated at 05:35 GMT, Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - 10:35 EST

ATHENS - Greece said Wednesday that it had completed the mammoth debt restructuring demanded by its international creditors in exchange for a new EUR130 billion bailout for the country.

According to a finance ministry statement, some €199 billion worth of Greek government debt has now been restructured, representing 96.9% of the €205.5 billion worth of government debt held by private-sector creditors that was slated to be restructured.

A ministry statement says about €199 billion ($260.4 billion) worth of bonds have been swapped, out of the total €205.5 billion ($268.9 billion) in eligible paper owned by banks, pension funds and other private bondholders.

Finance Minister Philippos Sachinidis says he is "extremely pleased" with the final results.

Wednesday's settlement involved the exchange of €522.3 million ($683.5 million) worth of bonds.

Under the debt plan, Greece΄s private-sector creditors agreed to write down 53.5% of the face value--and more than 70% of the net present value--of their holdings of Greek government bonds. The plan is aimed at cutting Greece΄s ratio of debt-to-gross domestic product to around 120.5% by 2020, down from more than 160% now.

However, investors holding some €5.5 billion worth of Greek government bonds or bonds issued by Greek state-owned enterprises and guaranteed by the government, refused to participate in the debt write-down.

Some information for this report was provided by Associated Press, Reuters, Kathimerini