Greece and its private creditors are closing in on a debt swap accord that’s crucial to cutting in half the country’s borrowings, with a face value of 200 billion euros ($259 billion), and allowing it to receive a second round of international aid.

“There’s been significant progress,” Hans Humes, president of Greylock Capital Management and a member of the creditor committee negotiating the deal with the government, said in a Bloomberg TV interview yesterday. “There’s broad agreement about the coupons and structural elements.”

An accord with bondholders is key to a second financing package for the cash- strapped country, which faces a 14.5 billion-euro bond payment on March 20.

More talks on the swap were planned in Athens, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said.