Eurozone needs to buy time for Greece: Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said eurozone countries need to give Greece time to find a solution out of its debt crisis, warning that a debt restructuring could have dire consequences. "It is in Europe's common interest to give Greece time," Merkel said in a late-night interview Friday on German television channel ARD.
"We need to consider the secondary effects" of a restructuring, she said. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said Friday he was negotiating a new bailout worth some 110 billion euros ($155 billion). Germany wants a second rescue package to include contributions by private creditors, banks and investment funds as the price of Berlin's involvement. The European Union wants private bondholders to contribute to a rescue in an "informal and voluntary" rollover of Greek government bonds.