EU Seeks Info From Greece On Financial Deals With Wall St (Goldman Sachs)

Europe's statistics office is seeking information from the Greek government concerning reports Greece used complicated currency swaps overseen by Wall Street investment banks to hide its mounting debt levels, a European Commission spokesman said Monday. "Eurostat wasn't aware of this matter," said Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, spokesman for economic and monetary affairs.

"We need information about what kind of transactions took place, if they did, and what was the effect on the government accounts in Greece." The spokesman said currency swaps are a legitimate government management tool "if they are calculated from observed market rates."

The allegations emphasize the need for the statistics body to deepen its powers of scrutiny of government economic data, he said. Newspaper reports Monday said Greece arranged a deals with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) that pushed repayment of its spiraling debts far into the future.

For the complete report: EU: Seeks Info From Greece On Financial Deals With Wall St - WSJ.com