Still time (at pixel) to listen to Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem defend the Cyprus bailout in front of some unimpressed European MPs on Tuesday. Click the pic for the feed. (Or here)

Tonight’s extra dollop of mind-bleach, fresh from the Eurogroup.

The Eurogroup head was in triumphalist form on Monday, claiming direct credit for having sent Cyprus into a parallel eurozone (capital controls, economy obliterated). Clock the direct quotes in this interview with the FT’s Peter Spiegel and Reuters’ Luke Baker:

The details of how the scheme is might actually work are pretty thin on the ground, but we know from the leak that the plan is to spend €10.2bn (from the EFSF most likely) buying back and retiring bonds. It is expected that this will lead to a reduction of 11 per cent of GDP by 2020.

Click t0 enlarge — a Eurogroup chart guide on how to cut Greece’s official debt levels (a buyback boondoggle included):

The focus remains on getting an agreement on the country’s medium-term debt sustainability. The reason for that is two-fold. First, it’s necessary to appease the IMF given its insistence on a haircut (which is politically very difficult for many of the member countries). Second, with the German elections taking place next September, it’s seen as best for all concerned to agree some sort of solution that will allow the question of Greece’s longer-term sustainability to be ignored until late 2013.

First: looks like our bold call was correct. Um, yay?

Second, Reuters says it has the document prepared for the meeting and circulated among the ministers.

20 November 2012

Statement by the Eurogroup President, Jean-Claude Juncker

The Eurogroup welcomed the staff-level agreement reached between the Troika and the Greek authorities on updated programme conditionality, including a wide range of far reaching measures in the areas of fiscal consolidation, structural reforms, privatisation and financial sector stabilisation.