Greek PM Hails Achievement of Bond Swap Deal With Lenders

 　　Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has hailed the success of the bond swap¹ deal with private lenders to keep the country solvent².

　　During a speech on state television Friday, Papademos said, "for the first time, Greece is not adding, but taking debt off the backs of its citizens for generations to come."

　　Under the agreement, Greece says the majority of the country's private lenders, including financial institutions, have agreed to a bond swap deal to help it eliminate a $142 billion debt and avoid a default on its financial obligations later this month.  Greece intends to use legislation to force the remaining holdouts to sign on to the agreement.

　　Following a meeting of Cabinet ministers in Parliament, Development Minister Anna Diamantopoulou said she will now focus on improving the business relations in Greece.

　　"My first priority now is liquidity³ in the market and change in environment, in the business environment, as soon as possible," said Diamantopoulou.

　　Greece has adopted widespread austerity measures, cutting wages and pensions and eliminating thousands of government jobs to meet the demands of international lenders so it could secure a new $172 billion bailout.  The rescue package is the country's second in two years.

　　With Greece planning to pay back the remaining debt it owes to the financial institutions over an extended period, those who bought the Greek bonds will ultimately lose about three-fourths of their investments.

1 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

2 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

3 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。