EU hopes to have a debt deal for Greece by end of week

European leaders Monday called for an accord “by the end of the week” on a 130-billion euro (USD 171-billion) bailout for Greece as well as a debt writedown from private investors.

“We urge finance ministers to take all necessary actions to implement the private sector involvement agreement and to adopt the new programme by the end of the week,” EU president Herman Van Rompuy said.

Greece is trying to wrap up a deal with private investors — including banks, insurance companies and investment funds — who have been asked to take a 50 percent “haircut” on the debt owed to them.

For Greece, agreeing on such a deal is a precondition for further bailout funds from eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).