The Irish and Portuguese repayment extensions are expected to be backed by all 27 European Union members, which includes those outside the eurozone, later on Friday.
This could be done through a standstill in repayments, extension of maturity, interest-rate cut or, in the most severe cases, the dreaded haircut.Other measures were designed to make this prospect seem even more distant.
Ssangyong Motor, a Korean company that makes sport utility vehicles, said its creditors had approved a one-year extension on repayment of 2.2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in debt.
Debt relief for Greece — which has to mean a reduction in the face value of the debt owed, rather than just another extension of repayment deadlines — would reduce that pressure for austerity, by making Greece's debt load obviously sustainable.
A number have signed up to the latest initiative, which will provide them with information about any missed repayments, rollovers or extensions to loans.
Among other things, Mr. Samaras is seeking a two-year extension of aid repayment schedules, pointing to the depression-level economic contraction Greece is experiencing as a result of the austerity measures the government has had to enforce.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has engaged his country in a perilous game of chicken with its major creditors, defying Tuesday's deadline for payment of $1.8 billion to the International Monetary Fund as well as the "troika" of lenders' conditions for extension of a repayment plan on Greece's $270 billion in bailout loans.
Communicating with creditors and being open about struggling to keep to your commitments can yield extensions or new repayment plans.
In practical terms, the Feb. 20 Eurogroup agreement, which provided a four-month extension for loan repayments, offers an important opportunity for progress.
Finance ministers are meeting in Brussels, where Greece is asking for a bailout extension as a crucial repayment deadline looms that carries the risk of bankruptcy and could lead to it crashing out of the euro.
