Greece Debt Exchange Would Be a Default, S&P’s Chambers Says

Greece is likely to default in the first half of this year, an event that’s poised to leave the country with a “very high” debt burden, according to John Chambers of Standard & Poor’s .

The country is pursuing talks on a debt swap with private creditors that would lower Greece’s debt to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, the Finance Ministry said yesterday. Euro governments have sought to fill a deeper-than-expected hole in Greece’s finances by having investors accept a lower interest rate on exchanged bonds.