Greece may seek IMF help April 2-4: Dow Jones

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Greece may seek financial aid from the International Monetary Fund next month because it is growing increasingly pessimistic about the prospect of help from the European Union, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Thursday.

Quoting an unidentified senior Greek official, Dow Jones said the government was not hopeful of help from EU partners at a summit next week.

"We still want a solution within the European Union, but it doesn't look good," it quoted the official as saying. "If there is no clear support at the EU summit on March 25, we will have to decide where to go next."

"There are a number of scenarios on the table, but the most prominent one is the IMF."

The official also said disagreement with Germany, Europe's biggest economy, over the debt crisis was deepening.

The euro extended its losses against the dollar on the report, falling as far as USD 1.3667 on trading platform EBS, before edging back to USD 1.3672, down 0.5% on the day.

"There is an increasing belief in the government that the IMF will be the only solution," the report quoted the official as saying, adding that the timing of request for IMF help would not be decided until after the EU summit.

The official told Dow Jones that the long holiday weekend on April 2-4 would provide "time for the news to be absorbed" while markets are closed.