BRUSSELS--All sides need to be "flexible" to reach a deal on how
to finance Greece's budget gap and bring its debt back to a
sustainable level, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said
late Monday.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of euro-zone finance
ministers, Mr. Moscovici said there are various ways Greece's
funding needs can be met.
"We need to think about the financing of Greece's needs until
2017 and the sustainability of Greek debt. Should we give two more
years for that? We're in favor of it," he said. "Now we need to be
pragmatic. Each one of us needs to be flexible on their red
lines."
Until now, euro-zone governments have ruled out contributing to
Greece's funding needs by taking a cut on their holdings of Greek
debt.
He said finance ministers must make a decision on how to find
the extra money at next week's meeting.
Mr. Moscovici said he is also in favor of giving Greece an extra
two years to return its debt to a sustainable level, a position
backed by Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup of finance
ministers on Monday. International Monetary Fund Managaing Director
Christine Lagarde said Monday she opposed that.
"We can actually consider the date of 2022" for debt
sustainability, Mr. Moscovici said. "There are different points of
view on that issue, with different analysis around the table."
Write to Gabriele Parussini at
Gabriele.Parussini@dowjones.com