BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will miss the monthly meeting of EU Finance Ministers Tuesday, a government spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.
The spokesman said Schaeuble would return to Germany late Monday evening for personal reasons, after a meeting of the 16 ministers whose countries use the euro. He didn't elaborate. State Secretary Joerg Asmussen will take Schaeuble's place at the meeting Tuesday.
Schaeuble arrived earlier in Brussels to discuss, among other things, whether the 'euro group' would require Greece to make additional budget savings beyond those outlined in a recent report to the EU Commission.
Arriving for the talks, Schaeuble said the ministers would also discuss how the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund could play a role in helping Greece, together with the EU's executive commission.
Greece's debt problems have shaken international financial markets' confidence in the euro in recent weeks, driving it down over 10% from the high it posted in November 2009. The same concerns have also led to worrying increases in the bond yields of other members of the euro zone, such as Portugal and Spain.
As reported, Greece's deficit hit an estimated 12.7% of gross domestic product last year, over four times the limit allowed by the EU's Stability and Growth Pact. However, it is not only the size of the deficit, but also revelations of habitual deceptions and data falsifications by the Greek authorities over the last decade, that have forced its EU partners to act.
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones Newswires
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