Greece hopes for end-January debt swap deal

Greece wants to move fast in bailout talks with the EU, IMF and bankers, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Monday, reaffirming the aim of clinching a voluntary debt restructuring deal by end-January before the country heads to elections. "We will proceed smoothly and with the maximum possible speed," Venizelos said after separate meetings with the head of bank lobby IIF, Charles Dallara, and with EU, IMF and ECB inspectors, on key aspects of a 130 billion euro bailout plan.
Banks represented by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) agreed in October to write down the notional value of their Greek bond holdings by 50 percent in exchange for new paper, as part of the latest rescue plan for the country whose chaotic finances lay at the origin of the euro zone debt crisis.