Greece reiterates it will not quit eurozone
25/01/2010
ATHENS, Greece -- Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou rejected on Monday (January 25th) any notion of his country leaving the eurozone. "Speculation of exit from the currency union are flights of fancy," he told the German daily Die Welt. Voicing optimism that his country will be able to strengthen its public finance, Papaconstantinou reiterated that Athens intends to deal with its problems itself. "We will conquer our budget problems on our own. We have asked no one for financial aid and also expect no help from outside," he said. Greece has presented a plan to the European Commission that aims to slash the budget deficit from 12.7% of GDP last year to 2.8% in 2012, through a series of austerity measures. (AFP, Reuters - 25/01/10)