Greece is near to reaching its target in a buyback of sovereign debt that will unblock aid from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, according to a Greek government official. The amount offered in the buyback of Greece’s bonds “is close to 30 billion euros,” the official at the Finance Ministry said on condition of anonymity, referring to the face value of the securities. Domestic and overseas investors offered to sell back to Greece as much as 27 billion euros of their holdings of the nation’s bonds, state-run NET TV reported yesterday. Greek banks submitted offers of around 10 billion euros, ... (full story)