DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Greece does not need a European Union loan or financial rescue from the International Monetary Fund, Prime Minister George Papandreou said Friday.
Speaking Friday in Davos, Switzerland, to the Italian financial daily Milano Il Sole 24 Ore, the Greek leader asserted Greece needs no such help as it seeks to join the eurozone, even though its ballooning budget deficit has reached 12.7 of GDP, the Athens News Agency reported.
"My government has clearly stated that we will solve our problems ourselves," Papandreou told the newspaper. "It is true that the deficit is at 12.7 percent, much higher than what we expected when we took over the government. Although we inherited these problems from our predecessors (in the government) we are working fervidly to solve them."
The World Economic Forum in Davos has been dominated by economic problems in Greece and Latvia that have clouded the stability of the 16-member eurozone, the EUobserver reported.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero spoke in defense of the eurozone, reportedly saying, "Nobody is going to be leaving the euro. More countries are going to be joining the euro. That is the best proof of how successful the project is."
