Greece ups stakes in quest for EU help

Greece raised the stakes yesterday in its quest for EU help to tackle its debt crisis, saying it cannot achieve promised deficit cuts if its borrowing costs remain so high and may have to call in the IMF.

But Athens dismissed a report that it was planning to turn to the global lender as soon as early April if European Union leaders do not agree on a rescue plan next week, calling IMF aid a last resort and saying all options were still open.

Market concerns that it may prove impossible to construct a eurozone financial safety net for the currency area's most heavily indebted member due to German reluctance sent the euro lower and hit Greek bank shares and bonds.

In the latest signs of tension in the eurozone, Spain urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to avoid talk of possibly expelling fellow members from the single currency, saying such comments could be misconstrued.

"What we have to do is coordinate economic policies and not send messages that could be misunderstood," Economy Minister Elena Salgado, who chairs the council of EU finance ministers, told Europa Press news agency in Madrid.

And former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, now leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament, said he found Mrs Merkel's talk of expulsion "very disturbing" and "frankly shocking".