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After marathon overnight talks, Eurozone finance ministers in Brussels finally reached a deal for a second bailout package for Greece. This would resolve Athens' immediate repayment needs but economists say it is unlikely to revive the nation's shattered economy in the long run.
The 130-billion-euro rescue package comes of course with strict conditions and would draw a line under months of uncertainty that has shaken the currency bloc. Without this deal, Greece would go bankrupt on March 20th when it has 14.5 billion euros in debt that comes due.
The talks took more than 10 hours, but finance ministers have agreed and found ways to cut Greece's debt to 121 percent of GDP by 2020, one of which was for private bondholders to accept a even bigger loss to help plug the funding gap.
Previously private creditors were expected to take a 50 percent nominal hit on their Greek debts, now that percentage has increased to 53.5 percent. The current debt-to-GDP ratio for Greece stands at 160 percent and it will certainly take an all-out effort by both the Greek government and its people to reach that fiscal goal.