Greece meet bailout conditions

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has said the IMF board will meet next week to consider approving the bailout loan for Greece.

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has said she intends to recommend to the IMF board that it approves the $36.7 billion loan to Greece after it met the conditions of the bailout.

The Global Ratings Agency Fitch has cut Greece's rating to 'restricted default' over debt swap deal, Reuters reports.

Greece's successful bond swap was met with relief today but there was little movement in the FTSE 100 Index after strong gains a day earlier.

85.8% of private investors holding Greek bonds signed up to the deal, meaning the the country should be able to receive a second tranche of bail-out funds from the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

The German government says Chancellor Angela Merkel is is "encouraged" by the Greek debt swap deal reached by Athens today.

The German finance ministry said that a second Greek bailout package will be discussed by the Eurogroup next week, according to Reuters.

Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos has hailed the debt swap deal as "extremely" successful.

The deal has averted the immediate risk of the country default by Athens. Speaking to his parliament this morning he said:

"The debt swap had an extremely high degree of success."