Eurozone, IMF reach deal to cut long-term Greek debt

BRUSSELS — Eurozone Finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) clinched agreement on reducing Greece’s debt on Monday in a breakthrough to release urgently needed loans to keep the near-bankrupt economy afloat.

After 12 hours of talks at their third meeting in as many weeks, Greece’s international lenders agreed on a package of measures to reduce Greek debt by  ₧40billion , cutting it to 124% of gross domestic product by 2020.

In a significant new pledge, ministers committed themselves to take further steps to lower Greece’s debt to “significantly below 110%” in 2022 the most explicit recognition so far that some write-off of loans may be necessary from 2016, the point when Greece is forecast to reach a primary budget surplus.

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