The Greek government has won enough backing for a debt swap deal that will enable the country to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the euro.

Officials in Athens say 95% of bondholders have reportedly agreed to the plan to reduce the country's debt by more than 100bn euros (£85bn).

That is well above the minimum 75% threshold required.

A formal announcement will be posted on the Greek Finance Ministry website later.

Greece needs to secure an agreement on its debts before it can get a second bailout from the eurozone.

Athens had said it wanted 90% of banks and others to agree to a 53.5% cut in the 206bn euros (£172bn) of Greek bonds they hold.

German reinsurance group Munich Re, French banks Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, and some pension funds, are among those who have reportedly agreed to sign up.

Some small pension funds had apparently refused to back the swap, while others said they would wait to see what hedge funds decided.

The European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have said without a debt swap Greece will not get its latest bailout of 130bn euros.

The head of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the body which has been leading the debt talks for large private creditors, said on Thursday he was expecting a "very high" take-up.

Speaking from Rio de Janeiro, Charles Dallara, IIF managing director, said: "The investors must know that there is no other alternative to this process, there is no more money to save Greece.

"It's a positive deal that will allow Greece to move into the next phase of rebuilding its economy."

Had the deal had not been agreed, Greece would not have the money to meet a big bond repayment due on March 20.

The IIF says this would have cost the European economy up to a trillion euros.

The hope now is that by slashing its overall debts, Greece, which is in its fifth year of recession, can gradually return to growth.

Figures released on Thursday showed the number of people out of work in the country shot up to a record 21% in December.

Youth unemployment has also exceeded 50% for the first time, with 51.1% of Greeks aged between 15 and 24 now out of work.

The next bailout will be on top of the 109bn euros (£91m) loaned to Athens by the EU and IMF in 2010.