BRUSSELS: Eurozone finance ministers scrambled on Monday to hammer out a massive debt writedown deal for Greece as Athens and its bank creditors struggled to find a compromise to avoid a messy default.
Ministers meet on Monday to finalise a pact to toughen budget discipline across the eurozone while Athens and its private lenders seek common ground to erase 100 billion euros ($129 billion) from a 350 billion euro debt mountain.
After weeks of hard bargaining, the chief negotiator for the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the group representing private lenders, said that banks had offered the maximum they were willing to lose in a bond swap deal.
"It was certainly the best offer that is consistent with the voluntary debt exchange," Charles Dallara told Greek broadcaster Antenna TV late Sunday after the two sides fell short of a hoped-for weekend agreement.
He said the talks were at a "crossroads" but that he remains optimistic.
A deal now rests with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank - which have provided Athens with bailout funds and largely control its economic policy, Dallara added.
"It is largely in the hands of the official sector to choose a path, a voluntary debt exchange or a default," said Dallara, who left Athens on Saturday, leaving experts behind to continue talks in the Greek capital.
Talks adjourned on Friday with both sides expressing optimism about the outcome. The disagreement has centred on the interest to be applied on the remaining debt after the writedown.
A deal with private creditors is a pre-condition for Greece to get a new 130 billion euro bailout from its eurozone partners, a second rescue nearly two years after it was granted 110 billion euros in May 2010.
The clock is ticking for Athens, which faces a March 20 deadline to repay 14.4 billion euros in debt.
