Banks agree to roll over on Greek debt

Frankfurt: Germany’s biggest banks and insurers, including Deutsche Bank and Allianz, have signalled a willingness to roll over maturing Greek debt if governments offer guarantees and other European lenders also participate, according to five people with knowledge of the situation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed last week to pursue a Vienna-style solution, encouraging creditors to replace expiring bonds that would buy time until Greece’s austerity programme bears fruit or a permanent rescue fund kicks in from mid-2013. A linchpin in the effort to save the first euro-area country from default would be a pledge by the private sector to share the burden with taxpayers.