Greece, troika reach staff-level deal: minister (by William L. Watts)

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Greece and its troika of international creditors -- the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank -- have reached a staff-level agreement on a second bailout program, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told reporters ahead of a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, in Brussels Thursday. Greece also has a deal with private creditors "on the basic parameters" of an agreement to voluntarily write down the value of privately held Greek debt, he said. "We now need the political endorsement of the Eurogroup for the final step," Venizelos said.