Greek debt swap talks suspended

Greece’s government has said that negotiations with private creditors aimed at lightening Greece’s debt load have been suspended unexpectedly and that the creditors’ representative has left Greece.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, along with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, had met private creditors’ representative Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance, for more than four hours on Friday, with the talks continuing past midnight.

A spokesman for Papademos said today that no new date for the talks has been set.

At issue is the interest rate in an eventual bond swap, which could lighten Greece’s debt burden by as much as €100bn.