Greece says it will spend $13bn in a bond buyback programme that it hopes will help stabilise its huge debt. The buyback, one of the steps Greece is taking to secure the disbursement of vital international rescue loans, is part of efforts to reform the country’s stricken economy and reduce its debt to sustainable levels. In an interim report on monetary policy released on Monday, the central bank said the new measures, if implemented on time, “are positive developments, which create plausible expectations of a recovery of the Greek economy”. “This outcome, however, hinges upon a consistent implementation of all the measures legislated, together with policies that will speed up the onset of recovery, including a broader program of structural reforms,” warned the Bank of Greece. “Any delays will push the recovery back, with consequences that will be far more severe than anything that has so far happened.” The bond buyback was agreed at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels last week, which also approved the release of a critical $57bn installment of rescue loans from the International Monetary Fund and the other 16 European Union countries that use the euro. It is hoped the buyback will shave about $26bn off the country’s debt. It comes less than a year after private holders of Greek debt agreed a big writedown in the value of their Greek bonds. Under the buyback programme, private holders of Greek bonds, such as banks, pension funds and other investors, have until Friday to register their interest in participating. The sale will be conducted by what is known as a Dutch auction, in which prices start high and then decline.
