Greece 'will not need aid'

8 Mar 2010, 2:03 pm   -   Source: Reuters
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Riots have broken out in Greece over austerity measures planned by the government to ease the country's debt. (File EPA)

Riots have broken out in Greece over austerity measures planned by the government to ease the country's debt. (File EPA)

Greece will not need foreign help to deal with its debt problems, central bank governor George Provopoulos has told a German newspaper.

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Greece will not need foreign help to deal with its debt problems, central bank governor George Provopoulos said in a German newspaper interview released on Monday.

Provopoulos told the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) that solid demand for a 10-year, 5.0 billion euro ($6.8 billion) bond Greece sold last Thursday showed Athens could raise the funds it needs on financial markets.

The order book for the bond issue closed in excess of 16 billion euros with over 400 investors involved.

Greece had to pay a "rather high" price to shift the paper, Provopoulos said, but he was confident the issuance costs would ease, telling the paper: "From now the pressure will abate."

Provopoulos made the comments on Friday for publication in the FTD's Monday edition.

He expected Greece to get out of its debt crisis on its own.

"A scenario in which help is necessary will not become reality," Provopoulos said, adding that he expected "no further negative surprises" with regard to Greece's credit rating.

"I am not concerned that Moody's will downgrade Greece further," he said.

Moody's has Greece rated A2 with a negative outlook and has said Athens must implement its austerity plans perfectly or face the prospect of a rating cut.

Should Greece need foreign help, Provopoulos opposed the idea of going to the International Monetary Fund.

"Greece is part of the euro family and if help were necessary, that should be the euro zone's job," he said.

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