CAIRO (AP) — The two surviving candidates in Egypt's presidential election appealed Saturday for support from voters who rejected them as polarizing extremists in the first round even as they faced a new challenge from the thirdATHENS, Greece – Greece and its private investors are close to a deal that will significantly reduce the country’s debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed $171 billion bailout.
Negotiators for the investors announced the tentative agreement Saturday and said it could be final next week.
Under the agreement, the investors would take a hit of more than 60 percent on the $272 billion of Greek debt they own.
Here’s how it would work: Private investors would receive new bonds whose face value is half of the existing bonds. The new bonds would have a longer maturity and pay an average interest rate of slightly less than 4 percent (compared with an estimated 5 percent on the existing bonds).
Without the deal, the private investors’ bonds would likely become worthless.
