Greek Finance Minister: No Chance of Financial Collapse

Papaconstantinou told the BBC: "Greece is not the next Iceland, nor is it the next Dubai... it is tackling the very serious situation that we have. Photo by daylife.com

The Greek finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, has defended the country's position in the eurozone.

Greece's deficit has risen to more than 12% of national output this year, which is above the EU limit of 3%.

But he said Greece was worthy of its place because it "abides by the rules" and was "not the only eurozone country with a deficit of that order".

His comments come ahead of the Greek government outlining its plan to deal with the country's debt.

Papaconstantinou told the BBC: "Greece is not the next Iceland, nor is it the next Dubai... it is tackling the very serious situation that we have.

"It is doing it with specific measures that cut expenditure and increase government revenue and also it is a government which is immediately tackling long-term structural problems," he concluded.

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