Greece bailout plan prepared by European powers wary of meltdown

Greece Bailout Plan Bared

A Greece bailout plan to ease the debt crisis has been created by European economic superpowers Germany and France on Friday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ironed out a few kinks specifically by not requiring Greek bond private holders to get involved in the rescue package.

Due to the news of the Greece bailout plan, European markets bounced back from the uncertainty over the last few days about the impending default of the Mediterranean nation. Adding to the anxiety is the reluctance of many EU leaders to extend assistance to Greece for the second time.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is fighting hard to convince parliament to approve sweeping austerity measures to bring down the budget deficit so that a Greece bailout plan may become more effective.

Papandreou appointed Evangelos Venizelos as the new finance minister who will help him secure the needed legislative support.

"The country must be saved and will be saved," said Venizelos who added that accepting the assignment was a "patriotic duty."

Merkel earlier wanted to extend the maturities of bonds held by private investors to shoulder the burden with taxpayers. But she conceded in the face of warnings from France and the European Central Bank which said that forced participation will result to a default and a global financial meltdown.

France and Germany had to rush this Greece bailout plan so that the country can pay some of its massive debt by next month. "The quicker we get a solution the better," said Merkel.

Posted by James Fried on Saturday June 18 2011, 6:36 AM EST. Ref: LA Times. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0