Schaeuble says Greece is close to broke

FRANKFURT, Germany, June 9 (UPI) -- Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said restructuring Greece's debt was likely the only choice for the financially struggling nation.

In a letter to European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, Schaeuble said, "We are standing before the real risk of the first full-blown bankruptcy inside the eurozone," the EUobserver reported Thursday.

Schaeuble is pushing for the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to increase the international community's support for Greece, likely with an additional loan of $75 billion on top of $155 billion Greece has already received.

The ECB, however, has built up its portfolio of Greek bonds in an effort to support its economy and to see Greece go bankrupt would mean huge losses for the bank.

ECB executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said recently that, "Greece should be considered solvent and should be asked to service its debts,"

"Restructuring should only be the last resort ... when it is clear that the debtor country cannot repay its debts," he said.