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