France led calls for a push to keep Greece in the eurozone as world leaders met for the G8 summit in Camp David after a torrid week for the crisis-ridden region.
Francois Hollande, the new French leader, said he and the US President Barack Obama shared "the same conviction that Greece must remain in the eurozone".
Meanwhile the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said European leaders must send a strong signal of support to Greece. "There is a climate of uncertainty which is pushing Greece towards a banking panic and political instability," he said in a newspaper interview.
"We must respond by helping the country find the way back to growth." Mr Hollande and Mr Obama are both pushing for pro-growth measures at the G8 summit, which flies in the face of Germany's insistence that troubled nations including Greece and Spain must not deviate from austerity.
Putting the French view forward, Mr Ayrault said: "The idea is to open a way out of this crisis without strangling our peoples".
Attempts to move the debate to how Greece might be able to remain a member of the eurozone follow a terrible week for the region which made a Greek exit seem more likely than ever.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke for the first time about a possible Greek exit, while Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, told European leaders they must prepare for such an eventuality.
On Tuesday Greek politicians said they had failed to agree to a new Coalition Government, paving the way for a second election on June 17. A poll on Saturday showed Greece's anti-bailout leftist Syriza party was slightly ahead of the pro-bailout New Democracy and Pasok parties.
The fear among policymakers, investors, and economists alike is that the Greek banking system will not be able to survive as long as the election, as people have already withdrawn hundreds of millions of euros in deposits from Greek banks.
telegraph.co.uk
Francois Hollande, the new French leader, said he and the US President Barack Obama shared "the same conviction that Greece must remain in the eurozone".
Meanwhile the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said European leaders must send a strong signal of support to Greece. "There is a climate of uncertainty which is pushing Greece towards a banking panic and political instability," he said in a newspaper interview.
"We must respond by helping the country find the way back to growth." Mr Hollande and Mr Obama are both pushing for pro-growth measures at the G8 summit, which flies in the face of Germany's insistence that troubled nations including Greece and Spain must not deviate from austerity.
Putting the French view forward, Mr Ayrault said: "The idea is to open a way out of this crisis without strangling our peoples".
Attempts to move the debate to how Greece might be able to remain a member of the eurozone follow a terrible week for the region which made a Greek exit seem more likely than ever.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke for the first time about a possible Greek exit, while Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, told European leaders they must prepare for such an eventuality.
On Tuesday Greek politicians said they had failed to agree to a new Coalition Government, paving the way for a second election on June 17. A poll on Saturday showed Greece's anti-bailout leftist Syriza party was slightly ahead of the pro-bailout New Democracy and Pasok parties.
The fear among policymakers, investors, and economists alike is that the Greek banking system will not be able to survive as long as the election, as people have already withdrawn hundreds of millions of euros in deposits from Greek banks.
telegraph.co.uk
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