Greece considers rolling over debt due in 2014 to cover funding gap

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Ahead of the Eurogroup meeting today, Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras said that the government is considering rolling over debt maturing in 2014, in order to cover the funding gap and avoid introducing additional austerity measures.

In an interview for the Greek Naftemporiki newspaper Stournaras informed that the finance ministry is planning to roll over about 4.5 billion euros worth of bonds due next March and issued in 2009 to bolster the country's ailing banks. This should partly cover the 11 billion euro funding shortfall, expected by the IMF for 2014-2015, but it would also push up Greece's debt load past levels accepted by the international lenders.

Stournaras also commented on the possibility of the Troika giving Greece more debt relief, most probably through reducing financing costs or by prolonging the repayment of loans. This would be debated at the November Eurogroup meeting and conditional on Greece's fulfillment of fiscal objectives for 2013.

"There are scenarios on extending these loans to 50 years, we are also working on similar scenarios," Stournaras said.