Greek PM tells speculators don't 'play' with euro

(ATHENS) - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou warned speculators Sunday that they cannot "play with" the euro after eurozone finance ministers sealed a 30-billion-euro debt support package for Greece.

"With today's decision, Europe sends a clear message: that nobody can play with our common currency, nobody can play with our common fate, that the EU was, is and remains a community of common values, goals and of solidarity," he said from Cyprus where he arrived for a two-day visit.

"Today, with the Eurogroup decision, the safety net has taken shape. European solidarity has been fleshed out. This is an important decision for Europe itself, for the EU itself," he said.

Earlier on Sunday finance ministers from the 16 countries that share the under-pressure euro currency agreed a three-year financing programme for Greece at interest rates of around five percent.

Ahead of a teleconference by the ministers, Papandreou's office said he spoke by telephone to EU President Herman Van Rompuy, EU Commission chairman Jose Manuel Barroso and Jean-Claude Juncker, the eurozone finance chief and Luxembourg premier.

"I had Prime Minister Papandreou on the phone I don't remember how many times," Juncker jibed on Sunday.

The decision to spell out the scale and the terms of the aid, which will involve all of the eurozone members, was aimed at soothing markets that have dragged down the euro's value against the dollar and forced up the interest rates Greece has to pay to borrow money.

At the close of last week the rate on Greek 10-year bonds had soared past 7.5 percent, its highest in over a decade.

The Greek finance minister earlier also hailed the "very important" decision to set the EU-IMF backup loan terms but said Athens would stick to its own efforts to reduce its debt.

"The Greek government has not asked for the activation of the mechanism, although it is now immediately available. We believe that we will be able to continue to borrow on the markets in an unobstructed fashion," he said.

Greece on Tuesday intends to auction a 1.2 billion euro (1.6 billion dollars) package in treasury bills, and has also floated the idea of a roadshow to the United States for bond sales in dollars after meeting declining demand in its last euro-denominated paper issues.

It has to find around 11.5 billion euros by next month to cover its obligations, part of a total loan schedule of around 54 billion euros planned for this year to cover debt repayment and urgent budget needs.

Its total debt stands at nearly 300 billion euros.

Statement on the support to Greece by Euro area Members States