European leaders agree on 2nd Greece rescue deal
An emergency summit of leaders of the 17-nation currency area on Thursday pledged to conduct a second bailout of Greece with an extra 109 billion euros ($157 billion) of government money, plus a contribution by private sector bondholders estimated to total as much as 50 billion euros by mid-2014.
The leaders also made detailed provisions for limiting the damage if, as seems likely, credit rating agencies declare Greece to be in temporary default - the first such event in the 12-year history of the euro.
The package boosted stocks and the euro because it suggested for the first time since the Greek debt crisis erupted early last year that the eurozone was taking a comprehensive, long-term approach to the problem, rather than simply lending Greece more money to avoid disaster in the near term.
