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Greece's
government warned Tuesday that the debt-crippled country will have to
ditch the euro if it fails to finalize a second, €130 billion ($169
billion) international bailout, AP reports.
Spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said negotiations in the
next three or four months with international debt monitors will
"determine everything," including whether Greece escapes a disastrous
bankruptcy.
Greece is being kept afloat by a first, €110 billion
($142 billion) international bailout agreed in May 2010, after investors
shocked by the country's huge budget deficit and debt mountain demanded
sky-high interest rates to continue buying Greek bonds.
An additional bailout was agreed in October, when it
became clear that the first batch of funds would not suffice, but that
deal has yet to be finalized.
Sorting out the details of the bailout, which also
foresees a €100 billion writedown of Greece's privately held debt, is
the main task of the coalition government headed by former central
banker Lucas Papademos, whose short mandate is expected to expire in
early April.
"This famous loan agreement must be signed, otherwise
we are outside the markets, out of the euro and things will become much
worse," Kapsis told private Skai TV.
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