Euro ministers discuss Greek standby aid planning

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Euro zone finance ministers discussed the mechanics of a financial rescue for Greece on Monday but gave few details of their standby planning as Athens tries to fix its public finances alone.

The rescue would be the first for the monetary union that created the euro in 1999 and the Greek government has been pressing European capitals to go beyond a vague political pledge of support for the debt-stricken country.

"We will discuss several options this evening, to find a solution if one is needed," said Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg and chairman of the talks in Brussels.

Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees De Jager said many countries would be involved if it came to it, but any help would be tied to tough conditions of the kind that the International Monetary Fund applies when rescuing countries that are in trouble.

"If we talk about measures, for example about loans, they will follow the same kind of methodology as the IMF," he told reporters as he arrived for the evening talks with colleagues from the 16-country euro zone. "This is not a bailout."

The euro lost some ground versus the US dollar on Monday, hampered by what some analysts described as a lack of progress on a financial aid package for Greece. It traded down 0.8% on the day at USD 1.3658 and down from Friday's four-week high close to USD 1.3800.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who was also attending the Brussels talks, said the currency was in safe hands. "The euro is certainly not in danger," he said in a Euronews television interview.

Greek government bond prices lost a little ground after comments by a German government spokesman reduced expectations in financial markets of an imminent announcement of concrete rescue terms for Greece.