Trichet hits back at Germany as Greek dispute continues

Tension between the European Central Bank and the German government has intensified as Jean-Claude Trichet hit back at the German finance minister's claims Greek government bondholders should contribute to a new aid programme.

Trichet instead continues to urge investments from foreigners in order to avert a collapse of the Greek banking system, and said forcing contributions from Greek bondholders is not a possibility, the FT reports. The comments are in response to Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, who urged Greece to extend the maturity of its debt by seven years in order to avoid default as reported by Investment Week yesterday. In an open letter to European authorities he said: "Any additional financial support for Greece has to involve a fair burden sharing between taxpayers and private in...