The European Commission has said talks on finalising emergency aid to Greece are making 'rapid progress'. It said the work was set to be finalised 'in the coming days'.
Greece is in talks with the EU and International Monetary Fund in a bid to secure desperately-needed emergency loans to avoid a default on its debts. There are reports that Greece is negotiating on a bigger contribution from the IMF.
The European Commission comments came as the cost to Greece of borrowing money on international markets again soared to record levels.
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This came after its credit rating was cut to junk status yesterday by Standard & Poor's. Junk status means that there is a strong risk lenders to Greece will not get all of their money back.
The yield - the interest rate demanded by investors - on 10-year Greek bonds jumped to 11.142% this morning, the highest level ever recorded in the euro zone. It later eased to stand at 10.819% this evening.
Earlier, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said euro zone leaders would meet on May 10 for a summit on the Greek debt crisis.
Van Rompuy confirmed that leaders of Greece's 15 euro currency partners are now planning a summit on May 10 in Brussels, in a bid to agree on billions of euro of rescue loans.
Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou attacked Europe for dragging its feet over the aid and warned that Greece faced a 'crucial' May 19 deadline when it has to pay back €9 billion in debts.
Last week Greece called on the EU and IMF to activate a deal for fall-back loans worth up to €45 billion to help it avoid soaring rates on the open market.
Meanwhile, the German government said today that debt problems in Spain and Portugal were 'not comparable' to those of Greece, amid fears Athens' woes could spread through the euro zone.
A German finance ministry spokeswoman said Spain and Portugal were not expected to follow Greece's lead and request aid from other euro zone members and the International Monetary Fund.
Obama in close contact with 'folks in Europe'
US President Barack Obama is concerned about Greece's debt problems and his administration is in touch with Europe about the issue, a White House spokesman said today.
He said that the US Treasury Department and other agencies were 'in close contact with folks in Europe about the issue'.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier today that negotiations with Greece over a planned aid package for the country should be accelerated because the stability of the euro zone was at stake.
