BRUSSELS - European and German officials assured markets they were working quickly on approving a bailout for Greece as they try to keep the country's debt crisis from dragging others into a continent-wide financial meltdown. European Union monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said Thursday he was "confident the talks will be concluded in the next days." He said negotiators from the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary fund were "working day and night" and were nearing an agreement on "a multiannual program" that will include major changes in Greece. Rehn said the financial lifeline was being put together to avoid a wider crisis and was "for every euro area member state and their citizens, to safeguard the financial stability in Europe and globally." Rehn's appearance at the European Commission's daily news briefing was scheduled at the last minute and appeared to be designed to reassure financial markets that the money will come through and a Greek government debt default was not on the cards ��" the markets have been in turmoil over the last few days as the seemingly never-ending Greek crisis threatened to drag other countries like Portugal and Spain into the mire. "Rehn's appearance means that we expect this deal to be wrapped on the weekend," said an EU official who asked not to be named. Greece says it needs a bailout in order to pay euro8.5 billion in bonds due May 19 ��" mounting fears that Germany might hold up its share of the overall euro45 billion bailout package agreed earlier this month was the catalyst to this week's market turmoil. Europe's debt crisis ratcheted up a notch or two this week when Standard & Poors downgraded Greece to junk status and cut its ratings on Portugal and much larger Spain. As global stock markets plunged and the euro dived to a one-year low against the dollar, the powers that be were finally mobilized into action, culminating in a meeting in Berlin Wednesday between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet. The consensus in the markets is that a much more extensive package will be offered to Greece than the original one-year euro45 billion deal agreed ��" that has helped to shore up confidence in the markets and Europe's main stock indexes have advanced while the euro has clambered off its recent lows. Many investors now think that a three-year euro120 billion deal may be in the offing. In Greece, stocks and bonds have enjoyed a rare recent day in the sun on expecations that Germany would stop dragging its feet and push its share of the bailout through parliament by May 7, as promised by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. It's not going to be pain free for Greece though ��" Germany and the others will insist on further budget cutbacks over the coming years. The current discussions are also likely to lead to more fundamental changes within the eurozone, which has appeared ill-equipped to deal swiftly with a budget crisis within its borders. Schaeuble has called for the introduction of a mechnanism to allow states to undergo an orderly bankruptcy ��" similar to the one created for banks after the financial crisis. "We need something similar for states who are part of a monetary union," the DAPD news agency quoted him as saying. "We have to learn from the crisis."
