Greece has vigorously denied rumours that it is has raised the idea of quitting the euro The euro has fallen by more than 1% against the dollar, following a report that Greece had raised the possibility of leaving the single currency.
German magazine Der Spiegel said eurozone finance ministers were holding a crisis meeting in Luxembourg.
The report has been denied vigorously by eurozone countries, including Greece and Germany.
However, the BBC has learned that ministers from four eurozone countries are indeed meeting in Luxembourg.
The countries – France, Germany, Finland and Netherlands – are said to be discussing EU issues, including the financial situation of Portugal, Ireland and Greece.
“The report about Greece leaving the eurozone is untrue,” the Greek deputy finance minister Filippos Sachinidis told Reuters.
“Such reports undermine Greece and the euro and serve market speculation games.”
“For (Greece) to leave the euro is very complicated. It’s not like they can just wake up tomorrow and say we’re not in the euro anymore”
Ron Leven Currency strategist
At 18.30 GMT the euro was worth $1.44.
A source told Reuters that some EU ministers were meeting in Luxembourg on Friday to review issues such as Portugal, Greece and European Central Bank leadership, “but nothing more”.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his deputy Joerg Asmussen were at the meeting, according to Reuters.
But the head of the Eurogroup, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, has denied that crisis eurozone talks were being staged that could see Greece exit the euro, his spokesman told AFP.
“This information is totally false,” his spokesman Guy Schueller told AFP.
“There is no Eurogroup meeting taking place or planned this weekend,” Mr Schueller underlined.
Despite dismissals from officials, the story “does seem to be having a market effect,” said Ron Leven, a currency strategist at Morgan Stanley in New York.
But he played down the significance of the report. “For (Greece) to leave the euro is very complicated. It’s not like they can just wake up tomorrow and say we’re not in the euro anymore.”
Protesters demonstrated in Athens in December 2010 against government austerity measures. Greece became the twelfth country to join the single currency, when it ditched its own currency, the drachma, in 2002.
Over the past decade the Greek government borrowed heavily – public spending soared and money flowed out of the government’s coffers.
However, the revenues the government generated through tax were not enough to counterbalance this, mainly as a result of widespread income tax evasion.
The result was a bulging budget deficit, more than four times the limit under eurozone rules.
In the end, almost twelve months to the day, Greece was forced to accept a multi-billion euro bailout, by the EU and the IMF, to finance its huge deficit.
The 110bn-euro ($136bn; £94bn) loan was designed to prevent Greece from defaulting on its massive debt.
But despite a programme of government spending cuts and other reforms, its economy has struggled to keep its head above water.
In recent weeks, there has been increased speculation that Athens could default and will need to restructure its debts.
Yields on Greek government 10-year bonds have leapt to over 15 percent, a sign that investors are becoming increasingly sceptical that they will be repaid.
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