During the press conference, ECB president Mario Draghi was asked twice if the ECB will also take a haircut on Greek bonds. He avoided commenting on this directly. Also his Vice President said that PSI is Private Sector Involvement. Sure, the ECB belongs to the public or official sector and not the private sector, but also he didn’t deny that the ECB would take a haircut. Is the door open to Official Sector Involvement? This could certainly help Greece. The ECB holds Greek bonds through the ongoing SMP program, which is now used mostly for buying Spanish and Italian bonds at the moment. Greece was in fact the first country to receive such help from the ECB in May 2010. A haircut for the ECB will certainly help Greece lower its debt mountain. It’s important to remember that with every tranche of aid, the Greek debt shifts more and more from the private sector to the public sector. The PSI program, which originally stood on 21% and reached 50% is only for the private sector. So, a 50% haircut on private debt certainly doesn’t reduce Greece’s debt mountain by 50%. If the ECB takes a haircut, as suggested here, that’s a totally different story already. EUR/USD is riding on some calm communicated by Draghi – calm regarding the success of the LTRO operation. Also short covering is helping the euro. For more on the euro, see the euro/dollar forecast. Yohay Elam Yohay Elam Yohay Elam: Founder, Writer and Editor I have been into forex trading for over 5 years, and I share the experience that I have and the knowledge that I've accumulated. After taking a short course about forex. Like many forex traders, I've earned a significant share of my knowledge the hard way. Macroeconomics, the impact of news on the ever-moving currency markets and trading psychology have always fascinated me. Before founding Forex Crunch, I've worked as a programmer in various hi-tech companies. I have a B. Sc. in Computer Science from Ben Gurion University. Given this background, forex software has a relatively bigger share in the posts. Yohay's Google Profile View All Post By Yohay Elam Opinions share Read Next Forex Daily Outlook January 13 2012 Anat Dror 10 years During the press conference, ECB president Mario Draghi was asked twice if the ECB will also take a haircut on Greek bonds. He avoided commenting on this directly. Also his Vice President said that PSI is Private Sector Involvement. Sure, the ECB belongs to the public or official sector and not the private sector, but also he didn't deny that the ECB would take a haircut. Is the door open to Official Sector Involvement? This could certainly help Greece. The ECB holds Greek bonds through the ongoing SMP program, which is now used mostly for buying Spanish and Italian bonds… Top Forex Brokers All Brokers Sponsored Brokers Broker Benefits Min Deposit Score Visit Broker 1 $100T&Cs Apply 0% Commission and No stamp DutyRegulated by US,UK & International StockCopy Successfull Traders 9.8 Visit Site FreeBets Reviews$100Your capital is at risk. 2 T&Cs Apply 9.8 Visit Site FreeBets Reviews$100Your capital is at risk. 3 Recommended Broker $100T&Cs Apply No deposit or withdrawal feesTrade major forex pairs such as EUR/USD with leverage up to 30:1 and tight spreads of 0.9 pips Low $100 minimum deposit to open a trading account 9 Visit Site FreeBets ReviewsYour capital is at risk. 4 T&Cs Apply Visit Site FreeBets ReviewsYour capital is at risk. 5 Recommended Broker $0T&Cs Apply Trade gold, silver, and platinum directly against major currenciesUp to 1:500 leverage for forex trading24/5 customer service by phone and email 9 Visit Site FreeBets ReviewsYour capital is at risk.