Negotiations on the haircut coming to an end

It seems that the Greek government and the representatives of the bond shares are very close to completing the initial deal for the so-called "haircut" of Greece's debt.

There are several issues to be resolved still, such as the issue of interest rates and who will cover the gap of funding Greece in relation to the 130 billion euros of the 2nd package of the loan.

On Friday the PM met with Head of IMF Mr. Dallara and came closer to sealing the final deal, as mentioned by both sides.

The appointment has been renewed for later in the day and the final deal is said to be sealed on Sunday. Mr.Papadimos stated on Reuters that he hopes "the deal for the PSI will be sealed in the next few days and the discussions with the Troika by the end of next week".

What is particularly important is that the financial team of the government will be the key to reaching the agreement. A member of Minister of Economy Mr.Venizelos' team mentioned that " We have a lot of work to do on the negotiations and the new programme. Everything is dense, difficult and critical. There is optimism because the country needs to survive this and we need to protect the citizens since they have suffered immensely already".

In any case, the optimism was apparent in the official statement of the IIF, which mentioned "important progress and understanding" in terms of technical and legal issues, confirming the Greek side's statements.