Updated on
Summary
Top European officials said that there was no chance of a Greek default or an EU bailout, and the country's prime minister promised to push ahead with plans to cut its sky-high debt. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos he was focussed on cutting the deficit and restoring confidence in his country, not waiting for a bailout. Greece was meeting the International Monetary Fund in Davos but Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told it was not asking for aid. He denied reports Greece had chosen Goldman Sachs to seek up to 25 billion euros of bonds to China, but reiterated plans for an investor road show in Asia. European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told the EU would support Greece, but not bail them out. Greece is receiving technical advice from the IMF on ways to cut its budget deficit, raising market fears it would default. The Greek press has been rife with speculation about possible Chinese investments in Greece since 2008. With over 2 trillion US dollars of foreign exchange reserves, China could afford to buy large amounts of Greek debt and has been moving to diversify away from dollar-denominated assets.
