ATHENS, April 23— Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced on Friday noon that Greece will formally ask for the activation of the EU- IMF support mechanism for the Greek economy.
"It is time that Greece will be supported by European partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I have already asked Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou to move onto the necessary actions," Papandreou said in a televised address during a visit to the island of Kastelorizo in eastern Greece.
"It is a national need to ask for the aid that will help us decisively to build again our boat with strong materials and send a message to international markets that we protect our common currency. Greece has embarked on a new Odyssey, but we know the way to Ithaca," Papandreou added.
The announcement on the request for the activation of the EU-IMF aid package to pull Greece out of the severe economic and debt crisis followed the Eurostat announcement on Thursday that the 2009 Greek budget deficit was higher than expected, a further downgrade of Greek credit rating by Moody's and a new record high for Greek spreads in the markets.
The Greek government had no more room left to choose other options, such as continue borrowing from international markets as initially had opt to, Greek analysts said on Friday.
After the Greek premier's announcement, Papaconstantinou is expected to send a formal request to Brussels for the activation of the safety net.
Earlier on Friday he held one more meeting with the mixed group of IMF-EU experts who visit Athens on the detailed terms of the mechanism and later in the day he was expected to travel to Washington for scheduled meetings with the head of IMF Dominique- Strauss Kahn and the American Finance Secretary Timothy Geitner during the weekend. |
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