Greece will not leave the eurozone, Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted as saying Saturday ahead of his talks in Athens on the country possibly being given more time to implement austerity cuts.
"No, I don't think it will happen," Juncker, head of the eurozone finance ministers group and Luxembourg prime minister, told the Tiroler Tageszeitung Austrian daily when asked if Greece might leave the troubled currency bloc.
"It won't happen ... If Greece refused outright budget consolidation and structural reforms then we would have to consider this question (of a Greek exit).
"But because I believe that Greece will try to redouble its efforts to meet its targets there is no reason to expect this exit scenario will become relevant," he told the local paper in an interview.
Juncker is due to meet Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens on Wednesday amid reports that he will seek more time to implement the austerity cuts promised in return for two huge bailouts.
Samaras is then due to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in Berlin before he travels to Paris to meet French President Francois Hollande the following day. Merkel and Hollande will meet in Berlin on Thursday.