Greek PM confident debt talks will be clinched in time

(Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos promised a debt swap would be clinched in time and dispatched senior officials to Washington on Monday to break a deadlock in talks that has prompted new fears of a disorderly default.

Athens needs a deal with the private sector, the EU and the IMF to avoid going bankrupt when 14.5 billion euros of bond redemptions fall due in late March, but talks with its creditor banks broke down without an agreement on Friday.

A leading representative for the creditors said Athens was not the problem in the talks, suggesting the issue lay with terms insisted on by foreign lenders keeping Greece afloat with aid.

The head of Greece's debt agency and a senior adviser were travelling on Monday to Washington to meet International Monetary Fund officials, a government source said, and Athens put a brave face on the standoff.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/us-greece-idUSTRE80F0H120120116 Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:41am EST