France deal: Roll over Greek debt for 30 years

FRANCE yesterday offered a radical solution for banks to roll over holdings of Greek debt for 30 years as the Greek government fought to get backbench rebels to support a crucial austerity plan to avert bankruptcy.

With depositors fleeing Greek banks in growing numbers and financial markets watching anxiously, President Nicolas Sarkozy said French banks had reached a draft agreement with the authorities on a voluntary rollover of maturing bonds.

“We concluded that by stretching out the loans over 30 years, putting [interest rates] at the level of European loans, plus a premium indexed to future Greek growth, that would be a system that each country could find attractive,” he said.