Greece Wins EU30 Billion Aid Offer as EU Battles Euro Crisis

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- European governments put together a 30 billion-euro ($41 billion) loan package for debt-burdened Greece, trying to stamp out its fiscal crisis and restore confidence in the euro.

Forced into action by a surge in Greek borrowing costs to an 11-year high, finance ministers from the 16 euro countries said they and the International Monetary Fund would offer the loans at non-subsidized interest rates in case Greece runs out of money-raising options. European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that the rate on the loans could be around 5 percent.

“We are now operational if the mechanism has to be activated,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters in Brussels today after chairing the ministers’ conference call. “The initiative for activating the mechanism rests with the Greek government.”

With the euro facing the sternest test since its debut in 1999, the bloc maneuvered around rules barring the bailout of debt-stricken countries, aiming to prevent Greece’s financial plight from spreading and to mute concerns about the currency’s viability.

To contact the reporters on this story: James G. Neuger in Brussels at jneuger@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: April 11, 2010 10:39 EDT

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