Germany at odds with ECB over Greece

Germany's finance minister has called for Greece to push bondholders for a seven–year extension on the maturing of debts, putting it on a collision course with the European Central Bank.

In an open letter to European and international authorities, finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said: "Any additional financial support for Greece has to involve a fair burden sharing between taxpayers and private investors."

He warned that if Greee does not get more funding before mid-July, "we face real risk of the first unorderly default within the eurozone".

Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the ECB, and other senior directors at the central bank have stressed that forcing banks and other private investors to take losses on Greek public debt could devastate the country's banking sector and possibly wreak havoc across the eurozone.

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