STOCK MARKET WATCH - Friday, 17 February 2012

[Demeter]

37. Germany Seeks to Avoid Two-Step Vote on Greek Bailout Plan

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-16/germany-targets-approval-for-greek-bailout-plan-on-feb-20-lawmakers-say.html

Germany wants euro-area finance chiefs discussing the Greek crisis next week to avoid splitting consideration of a 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) rescue and a bond swap of the nation’s debt, coalition lawmakers were told.

As long as Greece meets conditions for the aid, the finance ministers gathering in Brussels will probably approve the package along with the debt exchange, three German officials involved in a telephone briefing by German government officials said. A Finance Ministry spokesman declined to comment. Wrangling among euro-area finance ministers on a Feb. 15 conference call over how to reduce Greece’s debt load and tighten control of the aid raised the prospect of a two-step process, according to two people familiar with the talks. In that scenario, the ministers’ Feb. 20 gathering in Brussels would be limited to kicking off the bond exchange and deferring decision on the rest of the bailout funds. “We expect the Greeks to rise to their responsibilities,” German Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter told a group of lawyers in Hamburg yesterday. “This coming Monday, we will see whether Greece delivers or whether we will be forced to decide on another course of action, one that is not desired.”

As recriminations fly between Greece and its northern European creditors, the clock is ticking toward a March 20 bond redemption when Greece must pay 14.5 billion euros or trigger the first sovereign default in the euro’s 13-year history.

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