- Florida pastor not backing down on Koran-burning | Video
- B vitamins found to halve brain shrinkage in old
- Fidel Castro says Cuban model no longer works
- Obama: U.S. can't afford to extend tax cuts for rich | Video
- Firm can't fire man for 1.8 cent theft
- Former singer with boy band LFO dies of leukemia
- Economists cut U.S. growth forecast again
- Pressure mounts in U.S. against Koran-burning plan | Video
- Europe Factors-Shares set to dip; U.S. jobless claims eyed
- REFILE-UK Stocks -- Factors to watch on Sept 9
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. NASDAQ delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Greece getting its house in order: Papandreou
Related Video
Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou (C) is seen in an elevator surrounded by staff as she arrives at the Center for American Progress in Washington, March 10, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Wednesday his country was working to get its fiscal house in order and wanted markets to recognize that.
Speaking at the end of his first visit to the United Sates as Greece's new leader, Papandreou said his government was not trying to "scapegoat" its problems by blaming them on market speculators.
Papandreou said European leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Euro Group Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker backed Greece's push to rein in unregulated markets, such as credit default swaps, blamed for exacerbating Greece's problems by betting on its debt.
"We want to make sure that since we're doing what we have to do, we want to make sure this has the most positive impact and we don't have forces working against us," Papandreou told reporters at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress.
He said Greece was not asking for a bailout from its European partners although its problems had highlighted the need for new instruments, such as a common euro bond, guarantees, or a European monetary fund, that countries could tap if needed.
Papandreou said Greece's debt crisis was an opportunity for the European Union to make the necessary changes, although he noted that creating such instruments could take time.
"There is a will that Europe now gets its act more together on this issue as the Maastricht Treaty was built around the fact that we would never have this kind of crisis," he added.
"This is not a bailout and we're not asking for money; we're saying what we need now is to have the necessary backing in the markets," he added.
He said if Europe did not have the tools to come to the assistance of countries such as Greece, then the alternative would be to go to the International Monetary Fund.
"But as I see it today, Europe is mustering its strength and its will to want to avoid this even though this may just be a theoretical possibility," Papandreou added.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by James Dalgleish)
