Now, Greece itself funds the purchasing of the collateral. This is a highly significant point. Nomura’s Nick Firoozye calculated on Friday that around €38bn of collateral will be needed, and thus added to Greek gross debt. There are features in the offer which also reduce gross debt, in the discount bonds we’re about to get on to, and a separate bond buyback. But not by enough.
OOOK ... the Greek debt burden is alleviated by adding 38 billion to the Greek debt burden. Right. By comparison, the US debt ceiling negotiations look almost transparent.
UPDATE: Jean Quatremer, eschewing the financial intricacies, takes the optimistic view that a major political step has been taken toward a more federal EU. I'm not at all sure that this is correct, but only time will tell.