Greek officials launched talks with international bankers Thursday on the details of a complex plan to restructure the loan-dependent country's privately held debt under a new bailout deal, AP reported. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the Athens negotiations started "in a most encouraging manner." "We have started the talks and will conclude very soon because we face specific bonds maturing in August and September and want either to have finished before that or to have formulated a transitional framework until we have finished," Venizelos told parliament. Last week, European leaders agreed on a second bailout for Greece worth a total ?109 billion ($155 billion) - on top of a ?110 billion deal in 2010 - to protect the country from looming default and ease its massive debt burden. The agreement called for banks, pension funds and other private institutions that hold Greek debt to voluntarily swap their bonds for new ones with lower interest rates or slightly smaller face value. -- SPA
