The White House said on Friday it backed Greece's decision to ask for the activation of an EU/IMF aid package aimed at pulling the euro zone member out of a debt crisis. “We support that call for the activation,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. The US Treasury Department was closely monitoring the Greek debt situation, he added. Greece asked Friday for the activation of a financial rescue plan by the euro zone and International Monetary Fund, in the hope it will help the heavily indebted country out of a major crisis and give it the breathing space to put its finances in order. Prime Minister George Papandreou said financial market pressure threatened to derail Greece's economy with high borrowing costs, and that it was now “a national and pressing necessity for us to formally ask our partners for the activation of the support mechanism.” “The moment has come,” Papandreou said, speaking from the remote Aegean island of Kastelorizo. The plan agreed in Brussels recently would provide Greece with loans from other euro zone countries to the tune of 30 billion euros ($40 billion) at interest rates of about 5 percent, and about 10 billion euros from the IMF, in 2010. It aims to cover Greece's immediate borrowing needs so it can continue servicing its debt and avoid default. The bailout has to be reviewed by the European Union executive and the European Central Bank, and needs approval by all 15 of the other countries that use the euro. A Greek government source said Athens was asking for the plan to be activated even though details are still being worked out. “Negotiations are ongoing with the representatives of the IMF and ECB to determine the content and logistics of the plan,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue. “With the activation of this mechanism, we will have cast aside all doubts that we will face any difficulties with funding in the foreseeable future,” the source said. “There can no longer be any credible talk of default.”
