Greece won't need aid, says central bank chief

Greece will not need foreign help to deal with its debt problems, central bank governor George Provopoulos said in a German newspaper interview released yesterday. Provopoulos told the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) that solid demand for a 10-year, €5 billion (Dh24.97bn) bond Greece sold last Thursday showed Athens could raise the funds it needs on financial markets. The order book for the bond issue closed in excess of €16bn with over 400 investors involved. Greece had to pay a "rather high" price to sell the bonds, Provopoulos said, but he was confident the issuance costs would ease, telling the paper: "From now the pressure will abate.| Provopoulos made the comments on Friday for publication in yesterday's edition of FTD. He expected Greece to get out of its debt crisis on its own. "A scenario in which help is necessary will not become reality," Provopoulos said, adding that he expected "no further negative surprises" with regard to Greece's credit rating. "I am not concerned that Moody's will downgrade Greece further," he said. Moody's has Greece rated A2 with a negative outlook and has said Athens must implement its fiscal austerity plans perfectly or face the prospect of a rating cut. Greece unveiled a €4.8bn austerity package last week to hack back its double-digit deficit, and blames market speculators, who are betting on a possible Greek default, for pushing up the cost of its debt servicing. Financial markets are now closely watching whether the Greek public will accept the government's belt-tightening or take to the streets. Should Greece need foreign help, Provopoulos opposed the idea of going to the International Monetary Fund. "Greece is part of the euro family and if help were necessary, that should be the eurozone's job," he said. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .