The participation rate of private bondholders who have agreed to participate in the critical Greek voluntary debt swap plan reached up to 95.7 percent of the total face amount of the bonds subject to the invitations, the Greek government announced on Friday morning.

The wide majority allows Greece to proceed with the plan to ease the Greek sovereign debt burden by a third and unlock a second bailout package by European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) creditors to avoid a Greek default.

The deadline for bondholders to respond to the offer the government made on Feb. 24 passed on Thursday evening.

In a press release issued on Friday morning, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that of the approximately 177 billion euros (US$234 billion) of Greek state bonds governed by Greek law and subject to the invitations, Athens has received tenders for exchange from holders of some 152-billion-euro face amount of bonds. The amount represents 85.8 percent of the outstanding face amount of these bonds.

In addition, according to the official announcement, Greece received tenders for exchange from holders of approximately 20-billion-euro aggregate face amount bonds issued under laws other than Greek law and of bonds issued by state enterprises selected to participate in the invitations.

The additional tenders bring the total to approximately 197 billion euros, or 95.7 percent of the total face amount of the bonds subject to the invitations, the announcement stressed.

Athens needed a two-third majority of owners of bonds written under Greek law willing to participate in the process to allow the activation of collective action clauses (CACs) to impose losses on investors who still object to the Private Sector Involvement (PSI) plan.

A Eurogroup teleconference scheduled for Friday afternoon will examine the CACs issue.

In any case, according to Friday's announcement, Greece decided to extend the invitation period in respect of bonds issued under laws other than Greek law and of bonds issued by state enterprises until March 23.

"On behalf of the Republic, I wish to express my appreciation to all of our creditors who have supported our ambitious program of reform and adjustment and who have shared the sacrifices of the Greek people in this historic endeavor," said Venizelos.

"With the support of our official sector and private creditors, Greece will continue implementing the measures needed to achieve the fiscal adjustments and structural reforms to which it has committed, and that will return Greece to a path of sustainable growth," added the Greek minister.

Greece depends on multi-billion euro aid packages by international creditors since 2010 to avoid a financial meltdown that could hit the entire eurozone and global economy. (1 euro = 1.3 U.S. dollars)