ECB Cannot Restructure Greek Debt, Says Top Official Noyer: DJ

The European Central Bank cannot restructure the Greek debt it holds, as it is banned from doing so, top ECB official Christian Noyer said Monday. "The debt of Greece to the ECB is, by nature, impossible to restructure because that would be monetary financing," Noyer told a news conference, according to a Dow Jones Newswire report. Noyer, who is governor of the Bank of France as well as a member of the ECB's governing council, was speaking after Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected creditors' conditions for a bailout. Greece is due to pay 3.5 billion euros ($3.9 billion) to the ECB on July 20. If it misses that payment, the ECB is widely expected to cut off emergency funding to Greek banks, a move that would likely lead to their collapse.