ATHENS, Greece — Debt-strapped Greece will likely get more time to repay the bailout loans that saved it from defaulting, a top European Union official indicated Thursday as the EU seeks to keep its debt crisis from mushrooming.
There are fears Greece will be unable to cope with a spike in debt repayments in 2014 and 2015 as it pays back loans from the three-year EU and International Monetary Fund program that ends in 2013.
The European Commission is following EU governments in considering extending the amount of time Greece has to repay its debts to match the roughly 7 1/2 years that Ireland has for its bailout.
“We stand ready to make the concrete proposal early next year, and I’m certain that it will receive the support of EU finance ministers,” EU monetary-affairs commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters after meeting with Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou.
The move comes as EU officials make efforts to ease the pressure in debt markets that forced Ireland’s rescue last week and threatened to engulf Portugal as well as larger economies in Spain and Italy. While the EU has resisted further big moves, such as boosting its bailout fund or creating European bonds to share the debt burden, it has focused on austerity plans and making repayment terms more flexible.
Fears of default pushed bond yields for troubled countries so high they face being unable to borrow at affordable rates and roll over expiring debt.
