ATHENS, Greece, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Greece's finance minister said the government would not default on its debt, but a Greek newspaper report suggested the country may need more international aid.
Despite austerity budget cuts passed in Athens, an expected drop in the country's gross domestic product of 4 percent this year could help push Greece's debt to 150 percent of the GDP by 2013, the EUobserver reported Monday.
Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said last week that Greece -- recipient of a $143 billion European Union loan -- would not need to restructure its debt obligations.
But Greek newspaper Ta Nea said, "Senior EU officials believe the Greek government will not be able to apply the hard conditions of the memorandum of understanding within the appointed time frame."
The newspaper was referring to an agreement between Greece and the EU on reducing the size of Greece's deficit to 8.1 percent of the GDP this year.
