The only obvious progress tonight was that Germany has formally abandoned its demand that existing bonds be swapped for new ones with a seven-year maturity. Instead, the ministers agreed that private creditors would be asked only for “informal and voluntary roll-overs of existing Greek debt at maturity…while avoiding a selective default for Greece.” The only stipulation is that the resulting contribution be “substantial”—a weaker formulation than the original German wish for a contribution that is “’substantial, quantifiable, reliable and voluntary”.
