EU Official: Greece Needs Extra $20-Billion

Greece already needs another big bailout, but now a European Union official says it needs to be $20 billion more than has been discussed.

Greece is close to a deal with private investors to reduce its debt burden by about $130 billion. That and a commitment to enact deep spending cuts are needed to secure a $170 billion bailout from Greece's European partners and the International Monetary Fund. But international debt inspectors calculate another $20 billion is needed to bring Greece's debt down to a manageable level, considered to be 120 percent of the country's economic output.

A European Union official says the extra money should come either from the other eurozone countries or by having the European Central bank, its national counterparts and state-owned banks taking a loss on their Greek bond holdings.

Germany's finance minister said today that he doesn't see the need for "any extra contributions from the public sector," adding, "we're carrying everything anyway."

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