Greece in frantic talks with IMF to break debt impasse

GREECE sent senior officials to Washington yesterday for meetings with the International Monetary Fund as it raced against the clock to break a deadlock in debt swap talks that has raised fears of an unruly default.

Barely a month after an injection of bailout funds helped avert bankruptcy, Greece is back at the centre of the eurozone crisis as fears of a default and a subsequent eurozone exit overshadow a mass credit downgrade of eurozone countries.

Cash-strapped Athens needs a deal with the private sector within days to avoid going bankrupt when €14.5 billion of bond redemptions fall due in late March.