Eurozone mulling easier recovery terms for Greece

Reports said Finance Minister Papaconstantinou had flown to a "secret" meeting among G20 eurozone states. Eurozone members are debating milder recovery terms for debt-hit Greece as it struggles to stick to a harsh austerity plan, Greek media said Saturday after emergency talks in Luxembourg.The reports said Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou had flown to a "secret" meeting among G20 eurozone states that debated giving Athens more time to repay a 110-billion-euro ($157 billion) EU-IMF loan and easier deficit reduction targets.
The prospect of a repayment extension on Greek debt held by banks was also raised, the Greek reports said.
"The meeting discussed the extension of bonds that mature this year and in 2012 worth around 65 billion euros to give the country a breather as it is unclear when it will be able to tap markets," said financial daily Naftemboriki.
The Kathimerini daily said the meeting had tackled "the extension of Greek debt along with the postponement of deficit reduction targets by two to four years."
Shortly before midnight, the finance ministry confirmed that Papaconstantinou had attended an "emergency" meeting "to exchange views on matters including economic developments in Greece."
The late-night meeting in Luxembourg sparked feverish speculation after German news magazine Der Spiegel said Athens could seek to exit the eurozone.
Europe's inner currency cabal dismissed this notion as "stupid" and also excluded a restructuring of Greece's sovereign debt, which has exploded to 340 billion euros ($493 billion).
Athens now owes more than a year-and-a-half of its entire economic output, which markets consider unsustainable.
With yields on Greek government 10-year bonds having leapt to more than 15 percent and on two-year bonds to more than 23 percent on the secondary market, many investors doubt that they will be repaid.
Eurozone head Jean-Claude Juncker confirmed that the area's finance ministers would discuss a second re-negotiation of repayment terms on Athens' EU-IMF bailout -- likely to stretch well into the next decade at least -- at their next scheduled talks in Brussels on May 16.
The Greek government said the idea it could withdraw or be kicked out of the common currency area was "completely untrue... provocative... (and) highly irresponsible."