Greece set to default, EU leaders admit - papers

European leaders last night bowed to the inevitable and conceded Greece is likely to default on its massive debt burden, which would be a first among the 17 countries using the euro, according to reports.

They also raised the possibility of using the eurozone's bailout fund to buy back Greek debt on the markets, meaning sizeable losses for Greece's private investors and reduced debt levels for Athens, the Guardian reports. MORE Italian and Spanish bond yields soared to post-EMU highs yesterday on eurozone debt contagion fears. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble denied reports Berlin was ready to empower the Europe's bail-out fund to purchase Spanish and Italian bonds pre-emptively on the open market. The move is seen by experts as vital to halt dangerous contagion to the larger ...