Belgium seeks 5-year Greek rollover, EFSF rate

Belgium has asked banks and insurers with exposure to Greece to roll over maturing sovereign bonds for five years at a coupon equivalent to the euro zone rescue fund's lending rate, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
Business daily De Tijd said the Belgian central bank had made the request at a meeting on Wednesday that included Dexia , which has a 4.3 bln euros ($6.2 bln) exposure to Greece, insurer Ageas with 1.8 bln, and KBC with 600 mln.
The request was part of a euro zone-wide effort to involve the private sector in sharing the cost of a second financial rescue for the debt-burdened country on a voluntary basis to avoid triggering a credit event.
De Tijd said the initial response was positive and the authorities hoped to wrap up an agreement in principle on Thursday, while an EU summit on the debt crisis is under way.
Similar meetings took place in Germany, France and Spain on Wednesday, banking and government sources told Reuters, but it was not immediately clear whether the same terms were on offer everywhere.
The European Financial Stability Facility's current lending rate to distressed sovereigns is about 5.8 percent, based on the terms granted to Portugal in April. However, euro zone nations reduced the lower rate charged to Greece by one percentage point in March to help ease its debt burden.