Euro zone finance ministers to assess Greek deal shortly

BERLIN: Euro zone finance ministers will discuss the results of Greece's debt swap deal at a teleconference at around 1130 GMT on Friday and will then decide at a meeting next week on unlocking a second bailout for the country, a German government spokesman said.

Greece won strong acceptance from its private creditors on Thursday for the bond swap deal, which is a crucial requirement for the 130-billion-euro bailout.

"The high take-up rate among private creditors opens the way to the largest debt restructuring of a country in history," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news briefing, adding that Chancellor Angelea Merkel saw the result as "encouraging".

Copyright Reuters, 2012