Greece: Eurogroup head says there is little support for debt write-off

There is little support in the euro zone for any write-off of Greece's debts, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the chairman of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said on Monday (January 26).

"I expect from them that they will work with us to strengthen the Greek economy, which is crucial of course. We fully understand that a lot of work has to be done and we stand ready to support them. Of course membership of the euro zone also means that you comply to all that we have agreed with each other, but on that basis we stand ready to work with them," Dijsselbloem told reporters on arriving in Brussels for a meeting on euro zone finance ministers.

"As you know we have already done a lot to lift the debt burden for Greece over the last couple of years in terms of interest and maturity, the length of the loans. We have always said that we continue to work with them if the Greeks commit to what we have agreed with them, and if necessary. Now these words if necessary refer to the debt sustainability. It is too early to say, we have always said that we will come back to debt sustainability issues after the completion of the fifth review and that is still pending, so it is too early," he continued.

Dijsselbloem added there was little support in the euro zone for writing off debt in nominal value.

Euro zone finance ministers are likely to signal they could extend the current bailout for Athens to give the new government time to negotiate economic policy with international lenders and talk about more time to pay back what Greece owes them.