Greek government denies default rumors.

ATHENS, September 10 (Itar-Tass) -- The Greek government has
categorically denied rumors Athens may declare a default this weekend,
contrary to claims in an unsigned report by the financial agency Bloomberg.
"This is an irresponsible message, which refers to some anonymous
information that was sent via e-mail, and which was reprinted by some of
the Greek media," said government spokesman Elias Mosialos. He dismissed
the rumors as groundless speculations.
On the rumors of an impending default the gap in interest rates
between the ten-year Greek bonds and similar German debt the markets use
as a benchmark, jumped to 19.42 percent.
Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos called the
scenario of Greece's alleged imminent bankruptcy in the coming weekend as
an "organized tide of rumors."
"This is a bad game, pre-organized speculations, directed against the
euro and the eurozone as a whole," said the finance minister, reminding
that it was not the first time that such rumors were spreading.
Venizelos said that the main priority for Greece was to fully
implement decisions made by the summit of the eurozone on July 21, whichdecided to grant Athens the second installment of credit support 109
billion euros worth, and to honor the obligations that stem from the
agreements between Greece and its partners.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Friday after a meeting
with businessmen in Thessaloniki, that the government was going to make
"major changes" in order to pull the country out of crisis. Papandreou
will appear at the Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday with a
policy speech on the economic situation of the country.
Austerity measures being implemented by the Cabinet, have been causing
discontent among a large segment of the population. Trade unions,
political parties and social organizations have called mass demonstrations
against the economic policy cabinet in Thessaloniki on Saturday. Security
in the city is maintained by about six thousand police. But there are
protesters within the ranks of law enforcement agencies, too. On Friday,
protesting police officers, firefighters, port officials and physicians,
marched in front of the Thessaloniki Fair Complex on Friday to demand an
end to wage delays.