Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has dismissed as 'stupid' suggestions that Greece could abandon the euro or restructure its debt.
Mr Juncker, who chairs the group of eurozone finance ministers, said a meeting in Luxembourg had not addressed the issues and that ‘we don't want to have the euro area exploding without reason’.
German magazine Der Spiegel had reported that ministers were holding an emergency meeting to discuss Greece returning to its old currency.
The report, which the Greek finance ministry condemned as irresponsible and highly damaging, led to the euro dropping by more than 1% against the dollar.
The meeting was attended by ministers from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Mr Juncker said there was a broad discussion of Greece and other international economic issues.
‘We have not been discussing the exit of Greece from the euro area. This is a stupid idea. It is in no way - it is an avenue we would never take,' Mr Juncker told reporters.
‘We don't want to have the euro area exploding without reason.
'We were excluding the restructuring option, which is discussed heavily in certain quarters of the financial markets.’
Mr Juncker said a meeting of all eurozone finance ministers on May 16 would discuss whether Greece needed a further economic plan, beyond the €110bn which it obtained from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in May last year. He did not elaborate.
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou attended the Luxembourg talks, his finance ministry said. It added that Greece remained committed to repairing its finances and returning to economic growth.
‘The minister was invited to exchange views (on issues including) economic developments in Greece,' the ministry said.
‘It is clear that during this meeting it was never discussed or posed as an issue whether Greece would remain in the eurozone.'
The Luxembourg talks were also attended by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Mr Juncker said.
