Greece hopes to reach debt agreement by end of this week

Greece is aiming to complete negotiations on its debt swap deal by the end of the week, the government’s spokesman said Wednesday, adding that the talks were at their “most delicate phase.”

Charles Dallara, head of the Institute of International Finance — the body representing banks and other investment firms — is to head back to Athens on Thursday for the negotiations on the bond swap, known as the Private Sector Involvement, government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said.

“The target is to conclude the PSI agreement even within this week,” Kapsis told reporters in Athens.

On the front line of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, Athens is trying to get its private creditors to swap their Greek government bonds for new ones with half their face value, thereby slicing some €100 billion ($130 billion) off its debt. The new bonds would also push the repayment deadlines 20 to 30 years into the future.