Talks with banks on Greece difficult - Juncker

Talks with banks on Greece difficult - Juncker

Talks to fix a massive write-down with private investors of Greek debt are at an "ultra difficult" stage, euro zone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said.

Josef Ackermann says Greek debt talks could take weeks

Negotiations to fix a massive write-down with private investors of Greek sovereign debt are at an "ultra difficult" stage, euro zone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said today.

"These negotiations are ultra difficult," the Luxembourg prime minister said, referring to the key first condition behind a global agreement on a second financial rescue for Athens. Juncker chairs the Eurogroup that gathers finance ministers from the 17 currency partners.

The head of the organisation negotiating for the banks warned in Frankfurt today that the negotiations could take "weeks" to wrap up.

"We are very close and hopefully will reach an agreement within the next weeks or days," said Josef Ackermann, head of Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank.

Ackermann, the head of the Institute of International Finance which is representing the banks in the negotiations, said he was "likely" to travel to Athens this weekend. Private-sector creditors are being asked to accept a so-called "haircut" or debt writedown of "70% or more" on their holdings of Greek debt, he said.

"The question is, whether others contribute as well," Ackermann said, in an apparent reference to EU states and the European Central Bank.

Beyond debt restructuring talks, Greece is also in negotiations with public creditors - the European Union and the International Monetary Fund - to finalise a new series of measures in order to unlock €130 billion of loans which were promised by the euro zone in October
.