Greece rejects bailout speculation as EU officials arrive

Greece rejected speculation that it will need a bailout to tackle the European Union’s biggest budget deficit as officials fly in from Brussels to scrutinize tax and spending plans.

“We don’t expect to be bailed out by anybody as, I think, is perfectly clear we’re doing what needs to be done to bring the deficit down and control the public debt,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today.

Papaconstantinou is trying to buttress confidence in Greece’s fiscal plans after the ballooning budget deficit last month triggered a sell-off of the country’s bonds.